The Reality Check and The Handicapped
by Crystalteen
Summary: A Reality Check and a Handicapped are forced to spend a Saturday in detention with a Brain, an Athlete, a Basket Case, a Princess, and a Criminal. Brainwashed during the beginning, they all despised each other. By the end of the day, they bare their souls, touch each other in a way that they never dreamed possible, and become known as The Breakfast Club.
1. Prologue: Meeting Comrade & Roxy

**A/N: Hey everyone! :D**

 **Summary: A Reality Check and a Handicapped are forced to spend a Saturday in detention with a Brain, an Athlete, a Basket Case, a Princess, and a Criminal. Brainwashed during the beginning, they all despised each other. By the end of the day, they bare their souls and touch each other in a way that they never dreamed possible.**

 **A few years ago, I wrote "The Loner," which was my first ever "The Breakfast Club" fanfic. Currently, I am also in the process of writing a "The Breakfast Club" spin-off with the book/movie, "Vampire Academy." Originally after I wrote "The Loner," I wasn't ever planning to make another fanfic where I add another person into the famous Saturday detention. Nonetheless, this idea popped into my head and I just couldn't turn it down from how much I** ** _loved_** **it.**

 **I'm definitely proud with how many people loved my work in "The Loner," but I wrote that when I was a beginning writer, so there were many grammar errors and I could tell that I noticeably rushed through certain parts in different chapters. Plus I was still adjusting to this site when I was writing it.**

 **Now with this new fanfic, I'm hoping to expose how much I have improved to all of you. I'm very excited to bring this new idea of mine to life! :)**

 **My goal is to get at least four reviews per chapter. Feedback really helps increase my writing spirit and it makes my creativity soar. Please leave me your opinions in the reviews or PM them to me! :)**

 **I _do not_ own anything from "The Breakfast Club." John Hughes (Lord, rest his soul) does. Other than Comrade and Roxy Alexandrov (along with their other family members), I don't own anything or anybody. **

**WARNING: This may be a little triggering towards the middle!**

 **Enjoy the prologue, everybody! :D :) :) :D**

* * *

 _Saturday, March 24, 1984_

 _Shermer High School_

 _Shermer Illinois, 60062_

 _Dear Mr. Vernon,_

 _We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did was wrong, but we think you're crazy making us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us. In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a Brain, an Athlete, a Reality Check, a Basket Case, a Princess, a Handicapped, and a Criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at seven o'clock this morning. We were brainwashed._

* * *

 _Comrade's POV_

I could feel the strong wetness of my boiling sweat glistening against my entire face as I forced myself to keep up with the level six speed that I was in the middle of running on the slightly inclined treadmill. The song _Every Breath You Take_ by The Police was blaring in my ears from the headphones of my Walkman, almost like it was ripping all of existence away from me. Droplets of hot sweat trickled down my forehead, dampening my dark brunette bangs and burning my eyes like hell when they dripped down my eyelids and leaked into their corners. The powerful stinging sensation had me clutching the railings of the treadmill harder than what I already was. I threw my head back and clenched my teeth, hoping to death that my knuckles weren't going to pop as I let out a small bellow of curse words in Russian.

Three-almost-four months previously, my fraternal twin sister Roxy and I left our hometown in Russia and moved to Chicago to live with our grandparents. Adjusting to the entirely different surroundings and lifestyle of Illinois was sure as hell nowhere near simple, especially since nobody spoke with Russian accents and Roxy and I had no choice but to start attending a new educational shit hole. Or as other people who must've been incredibly insane dared to call it - _high school_.

" _I understand that this isn't going to be easy for either of you_ ," said mine and Roxy's grandmother, this dating back to the first month of when Roxy and I moved in. Though, I still remember it completely. She was in the middle of scrubbing some leftover dirty dishes, a week before I was supposed to start attending Shermer High School with Roxy. " _However, you both need your education in order to maintain the knowledge that you already have. You're both very smart children with your whole lives ahead of you. What kind of grandparents would your grandfather and I be if we didn't work to get you into this new school's system in the first_ _place?_ "

" _Good ones who actually gave a damn about us._ " I answered her with full venom in my heavy Russian accent, my arms crossed over my chest. Usually, I didn't cuss in the presence of my grandparents, but I was too pissed at the time to give a shit. First, Roxy and I were forced to leave Russia without having the opportunity to decide to stay there, and then we were just expected to join this new educational institution like we would automatically fit in with everyone else.

The dark blue muscle shirt that I had slept in the night before was now sticking to my muscled chest, rimmed in sweat. My heart wouldn't stop pounding rapidly in my chest; it almost felt like it was about to tear through my skin and jump out of my body. Nonetheless, that didn't stop me from increasing the treadmill's speed by one more level. Immediately, the conveyor belt beneath me began to fly even faster, causing me to drown myself in the lyrics of _Every Breath You Take_ in order to keep me focused on my usual early morning workout routine.

"Shit..." I mumbled to myself with a slim roll of my eyes, just as I released another deep breath. _Every Breath You Take_ was beginning to fade, the decreasing sound of its tune announcing that the end of the song was very near. With my Walkman pinned to my hip, I was about to reach down and press the required button in order to replay it; but before I could even remove either of my hands from holding on tightly to the railings, I ended up snapping my head over in the direction of my bedroom door when I heard it suddenly begin to creak open. I continued running at the rapid level seven speed, but at the same time, I refused to take my eyes away from the door until I saw who was there.

After a couple of seconds, I discovered that it was my seventy-eight-year-old grandfather. He stood in the now wide open doorway, clad in his untied red bathrobe and a pair of desperately wrinkly, baby blue, silky pajamas that sagged in certain areas around his skinny figure. Nanometers away from his left hip, he had one of his large, pale, clammy hands resting on the silver handle of his portable steel cart, which assisted in lugging around this deep green oxygen tank that only weighed a couple of pounds. This transparent medical tube that was known as a cannula ran all the way up my grandfather's chest, its end securely inserted into a specific part of the refillable tank. It split just beneath the bottom of his thinning neck, right before it looped around the backs of his ears, and the translucent nubbins finally reunited at his nostrils.

Three years ago, my grandfather became an official victim of Adenocarcinoma - the most common form of lung cancer. When my grandmother explained to Roxy and I what had happened to him almost as soon as we moved in, she said it all started with him having a major lack of an appetite. As time went on, his fifteen or so extra meaty pounds that he carried in his stomach disappeared, almost like it happened in a blink of an eye. Then shortly after that, Grandpa developed a horribly nasty cough, which seemed to have grown harder and more painful by every passing day. Grandma practically began to beg him to let her take him to the hospital, but mine and Roxy's grandfather assured her that he was probably trying to fight a cold that had a tougher grip on him since he was in his elderly years. Unfortunately, Grandma believed him, starting to promise herself that Grandpa was right.

Nonetheless, mine and Roxy's grandmother instantly regretted everything that she believed when she woke up one night to find our grandpa spitting up blood and mucus in the bathroom. He had a rough handful of his pajama shirt, trying to speak between tossing chunks of vomit and rust-colored saliva into the toilet.

" _I...I thought that he was having a heart attack...the love of my_ _life who I've known ever since I was in high school myself...the man who watched me get walked down the aisle by my father..._ " Grandma stuttered when describing how she found Grandpa puking in their bathroom. Even though this conversation happened almost four entire months ago, I still remembered it. " _But when I got him to the hospital...and these very helpful gentlemen quickly helped me get him to lie back in a wheelchair...the doctors ran a series of tests on him after confirming it really wasn't a heart attack..._ " I could still hear the cracking of my grandmother's tearful tone. " _...They found colonies of cancer cells lined up inside of one of the airway canals of your grandfather's right_ _lung_." It wasn't long before just his right lung became _both_ of his lungs.

"Oh, Grandpa!" I exclaimed, taking no hesitation to slam my knuckles down on the red button that said _STOP_ on the treadmill. I then shoved my headset off so it was looped around my neck, ending my morning workout.

"Good morning, Comrade." Grandpa greeted me, giving his bald head a small scratch. After being scheduled immediately to receive damn chemotherapy when his diagnosis was clear, my grandfather lost all of his snow white hair.

I drew in a deep breath through my nostrils, making sure to keep it quiet so it didn't seem like I was trying to mock him or anything. "Morning," I said as I wiped some of the drops of sweat away from my forehead with the back of my hand. "I didn't know that you were awake yet, Grandpa."

With four of his thin fingers, my grandfather caressed his jaw, where a pale stubble used to be. "Well, Comrade, I only came up here to make sure that you and Roxy were awake so you two can be on time for detention." The disappointment in his voice wasn't strong, but it was still evident. I had only been attending Shermer for almost four months and let's just say that this isn't my first Saturday detention. On the other hand, Roxy never once was forced to serve a detention under any kind of circumstance. Until today, that is.

In order to prevent myself from releasing another stream of curse words in my language, I pressed my lips tightly together to the point where they seemed to disappear from the rest of my face. Saying that I had a temper was one hell of an understatement. For practically anyone, it was a very simple task to hastily light my fuse and violently piss me off. But it's not like I _actually_ used to be like this, nor did I ever plan to become who I was presently. Ever since Roxy and I suffered through the four main tragic events that forever changed both of our lives back in Russia, I had developed this side of me that I referred to as my "I'm-the-devil-in-disguise" side. I had become so different to the point where I bet if any of my fellow classmates from Shermer knew me before the four incidents took place, absolutely _none_ of them would believe that I was the same person.

I could feel my grandfather's solid green eyes following me as I stepped off the treadmill and began to stroll across the doable sized room. The silence was strong; so strong that it was slowly beginning to become uncomfortable. I stripped my headset off from where it was looped around my neck, lying it down on the wooden nightstand beside my alarm clock, its glowing neon yellow numbers advertising the correct time _._

"It's just 6:20," I finally spoke up, leaning my Walkman up against my grey lamp. From the millions of things that I had memorized thanks to all of my previous Saturday detentions, Roxy and I didn't have to be in the library until seven o'clock. "Grandpa, you did your job. I'm already up, I just finished my workout, and by the time I get out of the shower, Roxy and I should be all ready to go. You should really get back to bed though. After all, you have another round of chemotherapy scheduled for three o'clock this afternoon."

With every word I spoke, I made sure to avoid making eye contact with my grandfather. With all of the personal shit that I was battling through, the last thing I needed to see from my ill grandpa before leaving to serve another Saturday detention was the strongly disappointed expression that was plastered on his sickly face. I already knew that I was going to get my ass lectured by my grandmother for the millionth time, considering she never stopped warning me about the consequences for what could happen to me getting this numerous amount of Saturday detentions in just a little under four months. But my grandpa was a different story; it was excessively rare for him to ever get ashamed of anything, and noticing that I was clearly somebody who he was losing more hope in by the day...of course made me feel like shit. No, he might've never said that he was disappointed in how I was acting or how he was becoming strongly worried over what the results of my future would turn out to be. I just knew.

"Comrade, we wake up when God wants to wake us up." Grandpa informed, the confidence in his still slightly hoarse voice evident.

Still refusing to make eye contact, I slowly nodded my head. "Yeah, of course." I mumbled, but I was mainly speaking just to say something.

Another strong moment of silence then made an appearance, but this one didn't grow as uncomfortable as the last one. It didn't get a chance to. Knowing that I had much more important thoughts to focus on, each of them (obviously) having to do with today's Saturday detention, I finally convinced myself to pull my attention away from the floor. From the corner of my eye, I stared at my grandpa once again, only to notice that confusion was suddenly etched all across his ghostly face. The bags that had seemed to grow darker were still suspending underneath his eyes, giving it away that all of the pills and the chemo were only working at helping him gain his health back about just fifteen percent. He had his head slightly tilted to the right, the sudden new glimpse in his eyes proving that he was trying to think something through. I could see the leathery wrinkles squished together at the sides of his mouth from him holding his pastel lips together.

"What's wrong, Grandpa?" I asked, turning my head fully in his direction.

The remains of his previously bushy eyebrows twitched upward. "You have something there on the right leg of your pants. What is it?"

"What..." Sparks of confusion began to fly across my electric blue eyes. I gazed back down, staring at my black sweatpants as I slowly shifted my right leg around. It only took me a couple of seconds before I realized what my grandfather was speaking about, and it took no effort at all for me to actually notice it. Stained on the fabric of my pants, just below my knee and at the side, there were splattered blobs of green, blue, orange, and red paint.

"Oh," I rolled my eyes slightly, right before I fixed my attention back on Grandpa. "I let Allison borrow these pants. She must've accidentally spilled some of her paint on them."

And when I say that, I truly mean it like this: "I let Allison borrow these pants and despite how she spilled some paint on them, she didn't give a shit to even try cleaning them up before she gave them back to me."

Allison Reynolds was the seventeen-year-old basket case that lived next door to mine and Roxy's grandparents. When we first moved here to Chicago, the first thought that crossed my mind was how much I despised leaving Russia. Nonetheless, as soon as I parked my deep red Range Rover in the driveway of our grandparents house, my first new thought was how strange the grey house next door looked. Hundreds of broken autumn leaves were overrunning the rusty gutter, there was a dark green tarp that was covering a specific part of the old brown shingled roof, the front lawn was uncut to the point where it was obvious that everything below the ankles would disappear...and that was just three of the dozens of things that I noticed immediately about the house next door.

After being welcomed by Grandma and Grandpa, I began to unpack most of the labeled boxes from the trunk of my car. I took care of carrying most of Roxy's belongings into the two-story, solid white house first. Then, when I had just started to unload my own boxes, I developed this sudden strange feeling that was telling me that I was being watched. At first, I shook it off, believing that it was because I knew that my grandfather was watching me from where he was in the open garage. But it only took a couple of seconds for the strange feeling to convince me that it wasn't just my grandpa who was watching.

Freezing in my tracks after retrieving another box from my trunk, I slowly turned my attention over to the aging house next door. And there she was; the teenage basket case was standing in one of the upstairs windows, her dark brown eyes entirely focused on me. She was dressed in an oversize teal T-shirt that was covered in plenty of stains, which I now know came from her painting supplies and black makeup. Her jeans were dark grey, slightly hugging her naturally thin body better, but they were still clearly worn out. The holes that had formed around the fabric over her shins and knees gave the age of her pants away.

" _Grandpa,_ " I remember saying after I carried the box into the garage. " _There's some brunette girl watching me from the house next door._ "

I remember not being scared at all. Normally, anybody would have more than likely felt like they were about to piss themselves after spotting some stranger looking at them just as they moved into a house next door. But I wasn't the slightest bit terrified or uncomfortable.

" _The grey house_?" asked Grandpa, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

I had rested the box that I was carrying down by that point. " _Yeah_."

" _You must have spotted Allison._ "

" _Who_?"

My grandfather hadn't removed his attention from the homemade clay pot that he was painting. " _David and Margret's daughter, Allison_ _. I've only seen her a couple of times, like when I rake the leaves or when I help your grandma with the flowers during the_ _spring_ _._ "

" _You two don't think she's creepy_?" I couldn't help but ask it at the time. Back when I first spotted Allison, I thought that she was a druggie, but that still didn't make me feel uncomfortable or terrified of her in any way.

" _Not at all_ ," Grandpa replied with a small laugh. " _Your grandmother sometimes leaves homemade cookies on the welcome mat for Allison when her parents aren't home. Within a few hours, there are a couple of a knocks at the door, but when either your grandmother or I answer it, guess what's there?_ "

" _Hm_?"

I remember the wide, happy-go-lucky smile spreading across my grandfather's face. " _The plate that your grandma left the homemade cookies on, completely clean. Only crumbs and colorful fingerprints that came from none other than paint are left behind each_ _time_." He paused for a moment, paying close attention to the clay vase as he began adding the smallest details with some orange paint. Then, after a couple of seconds, he said, " _You and Roxy are the same age as Allison, Comrade. The three of you would get along great._ "

Allison turned out to be the highlight of moving to Chicago. Yeah, I still loathed leaving Russia and the brutal moments that completely changed Roxy and I still haunted us today, but that basket case almost instantly became somebody important in our lives.

"Make sure to get those pants into the hamper then. You know how much your grandmother loves all things neat and tidy." the sound of my grandfather's voice hastily dragged me back into the present time.

"Yeah, I will, Grandpa."

He nodded at me in approval, but when he opened his mouth to say something else, he was cut off from a loud and sharp cough erupting from his throat. Quickly, Grandpa flew his fist up to his mouth, just as a sea of dry coughs began to overflow the inside of his slightly quivering chest. One rough cough flew out of him after another.

"Grandpa?" My eyes were wide and swimming in strong concern. "Grandpa! Grandpa, breathe!" I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave it a small squeeze, hoping that would give him the smallest hint of comfort.

After a few more seconds, the hard coughing fit came to an end. With an unbelievable amount of relief, my grandfather drew in a deep breath of relief, holding it in for a couple of moments to give the oxygen a chance to whirl around his shitty lungs. Then, after releasing the air, Grandpa began to quietly pant as he allowed a small and obviously tired grin to sweep across his face.

"I'm okay, Comrade. I'm okay." he assured me, but it still took me a few seconds of hesitation before I slowly removed my hand from his shoulder.

"You really need to get back to bed, Grandpa." I said, my eyebrows raised in seriousness. "You need your rest and I really need to get my shower over with."

It took my grandfather a moment to think what I said through, but he finally nodded his head in agreement.

"Okay, Comrade. You're right." Grandpa rubbed the back of his neck. "But if I were you, I would make sure to cover all of _those_ up."

When I noticed my grandfather's eyes darting back and forth from my left arm to my right, I felt my cheeks tingle. A strong burning sensation flooded across them, but I ignored it as much as I could. Biting down on my bottom lip, I hazily eyed my arms. All up and down them both, there were dozens of diagonal, horizontal, and vertical scars that were printed on my vaguely tan skin.

"I already planned on doing that, Grandpa." I said, almost having to force myself to drag my attention away from my arms. "Now go get some more rest."

My Grandpa nodded. "I'll see you and Roxy later on today. Make sure you behave in detention, Comrade. I love you and Roxy both." He offered me another one of those small and tired smiles before he exited my bedroom, leaving me to do what I often always did when I was alone. Battle the dark and haunting memories that were taking no hesitation to flood back into my mind.

Approaching my bathroom door, I ran my thumbs over my knuckles. Like always, I left the wooden door open only a crack, but it briskly flew open after I sharply plowed my fist into it, causing it to hit the wall in the process. The echoing _BOOM_ the door made noisily stayed in my head, followed by the next _BOOM_ when I slammed it shut behind me. After stripping my pajamas and boxers from my slim, but very muscular body, I tossed them into the hamper by the toilet and hopped into the shower.

The water was cold, almost resembling the freezing cold rain during a spring storm, but I didn't care. I rested my eyes shut and released a deep breath, feeling the chilly water overrun nearly every inch of my tall figure. While washing my chest with the orange bar of soap, I miserably failed to not think about the hundreds of more scars that were imprinted on my hard abs and flat stomach. There were even some marked on my upper thighs.

I usually took half-an-hour long showers, but due to receiving another damn Saturday detention, I had to wrap this one up by the time I reached fifteen minutes.

I squeezed the remains of the freezing shower water out of my dark brown, shoulder length hair with my towel before I carelessly abandoned it on the tile floor. Then, after trudging back into my bedroom, now dressed in an outfit that didn't expose a single one of my scars, I snatched up my deep blue knapsack from where I left it beside my ebony dresser.

" _It's all your fault_..." I could hear my very own Russian accent hissing at me inside of my head. The insanely dark memories were beginning to attack me harder, just like they always did on their own schedule. Sometimes I did a very impressive job at delaying that schedule, but other times, I was unfortunate.

My heart was slowly beginning to pick up the pace as I took a seat on my bed.

" _Nobody cares..._ " I clenched my eyes shut, starting to tap my curled up fingers against my thighs in an attempt to grab a hold of what was going on inside of me. I knew _exactly_ what I had, and I could go on and on bitching about how much of a pain in the ass it was. Though, to spare the time, it's simple for me to just say it like this: having depression at seventeen _sucked_.

I began to try shifting my thoughts over to Allison to attempt fighting the dark memories. Other than my grandparents and Roxy, Allison was the only one who knew about me having depression. Notice that I said she knew that I had depression, not that she knew _why_ I had it. Because she didn't; and I sure as hell wasn't ever going to admit it. She might've been mine and Roxy's friend, but _nobody_ deserved to know anything behind why I developed depression. It wasn't like anybody noticed that I had anything anyway. I was a professional at disguising my depression. Sometimes I even forgot that I had it myself.

Opening up one of the three drawers that were built into my nightstand, I began pulling out some pairs of my socks and stuffing them into my knapsack. I could feel the waves of relief beginning to spread throughout my body as the haunting memories began to go back into hiding. However, after I removed the final pair of socks that I wanted from my drawer, my heart took such a gigantic leap that I could've sworn that it almost perfectly resembled the sharp shock of a taser. I could've sworn that my eyes looked like they were about to bulge clear out of my head. There, resting on top of a couple of more socks, was a pocketknife that I had snuck away from my father back at my old house in Russia.

" _Do it...you deserve it...it's all your fault_..." My hand began to quiver a bit, causing me to drop the last pair of socks that I had picked up. " _Do it...and all this pain will go away..._ " I knew that was a definite lie. If 'it' made the pain go away, I wouldn't have depression. " _Come on...it's all your fault..._ " I narrowed my eyes in anger, gripping a hold of the blade's handle and lifting it slowly, studying how the dim early morning lighting from my window shined against the jagged silver.

My heartbeat was wild, each rapid pump echoing inside of my head. Rage was pouring through my veins, my blood beginning to heat up to the point where it felt like I had molting lava burning its way throughout my entire body. A strong burning sensation began to heat up my nostrils and the tips of my ears, as if hot steam was being created from my unbreakable amount of fury. The hushed whispers that used my own voice against me wouldn't stop screaming inside of my head, drowning me in my own anger. _Torturing_ me, actually. The memories swooshed back and forth, causing my lips to peel back and reveal my tightly clenching teeth. I began to tug at the edge of my sleeve, feeling my thoughts of Allison get buried by my evil past.

I looked at the portion of my arm that was now exposed, hearing " _DO IT_!" repeatedly bellow inside of my head. By this point, I felt like I was on fire from being so pissed at myself. Slowly, I began to inch the sharpness of the pocketknife towards my scarred arm, drawing in one deep breath after another. In just a matter of seconds-

"Comrade!"

Immediately, I snapped out of it. As soon as I heard the sound of my grandmother's voice calling out my name from downstairs, every memory that was attacking me from the past seemed to wash out of my system. All of the loud screams of fury that disguised themselves with my own voice came to a sharp halt. My eyes shot open, just as a gigantic deep breath flung itself down my throat. I blinked a couple of times, feeling the strong heat that coated my whole body begin to fade away. I released the deep breath slowly, grasping a rough hold on what just happened. Pursing my lips in slight disappointment and remaining anger, I stared at the pocketknife that hadn't left my hand. Immediately, I remembered the feeling that I always had after slitting myself. The feeling of my hot blood trickling down my arm from the open self-wounds...it was difficult to just forget about. Actually, I _couldn't_ forget about it for a variety of reasons.

"Comrade!" my Grandma called out again, but this time, her accent was more eager. "Get down here!"

I hastily pulled my long sleeve back down. "I'm coming, Grandma!" And with that, I leaped back up onto my feet, jammed the blade into one of the empty pockets of my jeans, and swung my knapsack over my shoulder as I hurried out of my room. If there was one thing that usually prevented the haunting memories from attacking me, it was when I was in the presence of other people. Which, by the way, was terribly ironic since I didn't really get along with anybody at all.

The delicious aroma of scrambled eggs, bacon, and chocolate chip pancakes practically trampled me by the time I reached the center of the carpeted staircase. However, not only was my appetite commonly low, especially in the morning, but as soon as I picked up the scent of brewing coffee, disgust swept across my face. I _hated_ coffee.

I gulped down a gag that had only made it to the middle of my throat and ignored the smell of the coffee as I leaned in the kitchen's arch doorway.

My seventy-six-year-old grandmother (who actually looked very good for her age) was currently flipping some of the pancakes on the stove. She had her silky grey hair, which was still as naturally curly as it always had been, pulled back into a ponytail by a navy blue colored ribbon. The knee-length cotton dress that she was wearing was solid white, but it was also covered with the pattern of dozens of different pastel colored roses.

"Hey, Grandma," I greeted her, but my confused eyes slowly wandered around the clean and neatly organized kitchen. "Where's Roxy?"

"Oh, she's still getting ready," my Grandma informed, peeking over her shoulder at me. I could see that she was also wearing the shiny pearl necklace and matching earrings that Grandpa had bought her for their most recent anniversary over a month ago.

It didn't take long for me to notice that Grandma was carefully studying me from my feet to the top of my head. I wasn't dumb; I knew that she was making sure that my outfit was appropriate or some shit like that. But I had to admire the love and protection that she had for Roxy and I...no matter how much it often got on my last freaking nerves.

I stared down at myself, as if I was giving myself my own clothes examination.

My black leather jacket that zipped diagonally was fully unzipped, revealing the plain white T-shirt that I was wearing underneath it. Its material was thin, but the shirt was still unable to be seen through. As for my jeans, they were noticeably worn out; the part around my shins had gotten so old that small holes were beginning to form in the fabric, but I didn't care. I had always worn pants that were slightly baggier on my figure, so my jeans, especially around my thighs and shins, sagged just a little. A deep green and black checkered flannel was tied around my waist, just in case I got tired of wearing my leather jacket at any point during the damn detention. Lastly, a pair of teal converse that were practically brand new (as long as nobody counted the single hole that was in the top of the right one) were on my feet. In my eyes, I looked pretty damn good.

"Okay, Comrade, take a seat at the table. You and I need to have a little talk." said my Grandmother as she turned one of the knobs on the stove slightly before making eye contact with me again. She must have approved of my outfit...which was great because I sure as hell wasn't in the mood to be instructed to go change.

When Grandma looked away from me again in order to retrieve a mug from one of the cabinets, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. If only I got paid to listen to this damn lecture every time I got assigned another Saturday to spend in detention...

Nonetheless, as much as I wanted to at least try to convince Grandma to have this conversation with me when Roxy and I got back home, I decided to silently curse in Russian in my head and suck it up.

Slipping off my knapsack, I dropped it to the tile floor and pulled out one of the four wooden chairs that surrounded the rectangular table. As soon as I took a seat, I kicked my feet up and used the chair beside me as a footstool. However, when I glanced back at my grandma, not only did I see her getting ready to pour herself some of the heavily scented coffee, but she was staring at me with her eyebrows raised and hazel eyes glazed with solid seriousness. I received that look hundreds of times from her, so I knew exactly what it meant. Pursing my lips, I slowly removed my feet from the chair that was beside mine.

"Comrade, where do you think I should start this conversation?" Grandma asked as she poured some of the dark coffee into her sunflower themed mug. "Actually, maybe I should start with how you and Roxy have only been here for almost four months and you have managed to get so many detentions that I can't even give a direct number as to how many you got!"

I was avoiding eye contact, looking down at the lacey placemat that was in front of me. "Yeah, I can't give a direct number of how many I got either." I muttered in complete honesty.

There was a small pause, which I could tell was from my grandmother taking a sip of her coffee.

"Oh, Comrade," Grandma sighed, shaking her head slightly. "You and Roxy only have one more year before graduating, but do you _honestly_ think that any college is going to want to accept you with your increasing detentions? If you keep this up, it's only a matter of time before you get kicked out of school! Do you even want to make something out of your life?"

I nodded, still not looking at my grandmother. She and my grandpa were complete opposites.

"Then you _have_ to get a hold of this rebellious phase." instructed my grandmother. That had me instantly looking up at her, and it came to my realization that she was now sitting across the table from me. It wasn't a phase I was going through...

"It's not a phase," I blurted out before I could even catch myself just thinking about saying it. Hard seriousness was glowing in my eyes. "Phases don't last a little over _five years_ , Grandma."

There was another pause in the conversation. I witnessed a glimpse of pity sparkle across my grandmother's eyes as a small frown tugged at the corners of her glossy lips. Resting her eyes shut for a couple of seconds, Grandma drew in a quiet breath through her nostrils. For a few more extra seconds, she held it in; but then released it through her mouth. When her eyes reopened, I could see them drowning in sadness.

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have brought up..." my Grandmother attempted going on with her apology, but I held up my hand, signaling for her to stop.

"You don't have to be sorry. Besides, you have the right to talk about her," I said, the ' _her_ ' being one of the main reasons behind why I developed my "I'm-the-devil-in-disguise" side. "I mean, she was your daughter."

The sorrow expanded in my grandma's eyes as she softly nodded her head. I could feel a large frown attempting to smear itself across my face, but I wouldn't allow the slightest hint of a pout to mold its way onto my lips. The plain look on my face remained perfectly straight.

"As for my detentions," I said, changing the topic for my grandmother's sake. "Shermer High School sucks ass, Grandma. The only thoughts that run through my mind while I'm there is making sure that I survive until summer vacation and that I keep Roxy safe."

Grandma must have been too caught up in dwelling on her remaining sadness to notice that I cussed, which I was truly very grateful for. I _really_ didn't need _another_ lecture.

"Comrade..." my Grandmother sighed, right before she took another small sip of her coffee. At first, I noticed her eyeing my right wrist, even though my sleeves covered up each of the scars that I had on both of my arms, but then she glued her eyes back on mine. "I know you love your sister...you have always been there for her, especially ever since...well..."

"I know," I said in a natural tone with a small shrug of my left shoulder, as if it was the simplest topic to discuss in the whole world. "The incidents."

"Yes, the incidents," Grandma nodded, "but I'm afraid that...well, you know that you can't be there to always protect her. God created her to walk down her own path in this world, just like He did for you..." I had started to look down at the placemat again, but I immediately looked back into my grandmother's eyes when she reached across the table and grabbed one of my warm hands. Her hand felt leathery and a bit cooler. "You can't try to _always_ be there for her, Comrade. You know that." Grandma said, the pity glimmering like a billion gems in her eyes.

I gently pulled my hand away from hers, having no choice but to be a little forceful to show her that I wanted her to let go. When she did, I stood up from my chair, pushing it back in afterwards.

"Grandma," I said, looking at her with the same dead serious expression that she had plastered on her face just minutes before. "I lost the opportunity to _try_ helping her that night when she went out. Now there is no more _trying_ on my behalf. There is only _doing_." I snatched my knapsack back up from the floor and arched my eyebrows again when I stared at my grandmother once more. "If you'll excuse me now, I have to get Roxy. We have to be at the school by seven and it's already 6:43."

Straightening her lips out for a moment, Grandma slowly nodded her head at me. Then without another word, I sprang out of the kitchen, feeling my grandmother's eyes following me until I was no longer in her sight.

I towered back up the carpeted staircase and marched down the slim hallway that must've had a million of framed pictures hanging on the walls. After reaching the wooden door that was across the hall from my bedroom, I froze in my tracks and raised my fist, knocking a couple of times.

It only took a couple of seconds before the sound of Roxy's Russian slang called out, "Come in!"

The smallest hint of a grin known to all of mankind poked around the corners of my lips.

Silently, I grabbed the spherical knob and turned it as far as it could go, opening the door. Almost instantly, after I noticed a quick glimpse of the dozens of neatly organized shoes that were on the floor, directly in front of the foot of the bed, my eyes landed on Roxy. She was standing in front of her dresser, her left hand pinned to her hip with her other hand occupied in clutching the top of her foldable red and white cane. Her backside was facing my direction, but that didn't stop me from noticing how she was actually dressed in something that wasn't one of the plenty of nightgowns that our grandmother had spoiled her with as soon as we moved in.

Instead, she was wearing a dark blue shirt that I could tell had long sleeves, but Roxy had rolled them up so the fabric squished together, now reaching to the tops of her elbows. Other than that, I realized that she also had on the leather vest that I had gave her on our fourteenth birthday. It was created out of the same black material that my leather jacket was made out of. Also, it zipped vertically in the front, but Roxy always left it unzipped. As for the two small pockets, one designed over the sides of both of her breasts, Roxy always left those horizontal zippers shut. As much as I despised it, most of Roxy's long legs were exposed due to how her denim skirt only reached the center of her thighs. (That was sure as hell something I was going to make sure that no other fellow detention goers were going to pay attention to today. Bitches better mind their damn eyes if they don't want to have them torn out of their freaking skulls.) Four different colored rubber bracelets were slipped around Roxy's right wrist, and she had a deep red and sparkly belt running through the few loops of her denim skirt. And lastly, there were a pair of violet, noticeably worn out sneakers tied neatly on her feet.

"Who's there?" Roxy's voice immediately snapped me out of my private outfit examination.

"It's me, Roxy," I replied, fixing my attention back to the back of her head. She had her long, naturally wavy, jet-black hair pulled back into a slightly messy ponytail with a cream colored scrunchy. "I must admit that I'm pretty damn impressed right now. You actually managed to get dressed all by yourself."

At first, Roxy didn't say anything back. She was still facing her dresser with her headphones tucked into her pierced ears. I could see her own Walkman (we both got them together on our twelfth birthday) pressed against her right hip. If I had to guess what song she was listening to, I would say it was _West End Girls_ by Pet Shop Boys, considering the way that she was vaguely tapping the end of her cane against the carpeted floor to a specific rhythm.

"What's the matter?" I asked, knowing by her silence that something was bothering her. "Shouldn't you be feeling proud of yourself for changing without any help?"

I didn't need to see Roxy's face to know that a pout that molded into her lips. With a tiny sigh, she tugged one of her headphones out, but left the other one in. "Comrade," Roxy said, her voice laced with soft sorrow. "I would probably feel more accomplished if I could actually _see_ how I look."

"Roxy..." I began to say something, but I immediately shut myself the hell up when I realized that my accent was drenched in pity. There were dozens of things that Roxy loathed due to her condition, and one of them was none other than receiving pity, especially from me.

I pressed my lips together, transforming them into a straight line as I started to walk across the doable sized room. Roxy didn't move a muscle, looking like she was a statue. I was just about to open my mouth to see if I could come up with a way to change the topic. Nevertheless, as soon as I saw Roxy's eyes...the eyes that perfectly resembled two bright silver, practically glowing, and somewhat dusty crystal balls...I realized that they weren't blinking directly at her dresser. Instead, when I followed the direction of her blank gaze, it was clear that she was really staring at the three framed pictures that were on top of her dresser.

In one picture, Roxy was flashing a large smile, sitting properly in the grass of the freshly bloomed garden that was back at our old home in Russia. She was dressed in a knee-length, bright yellow sundress and neon blue flip-flops, which helped expose the red nail polish that she had coating all ten of her toenails. Also around her neck, she had on the necklace that our mother had gave her on our tenth birthday. It was a simple silver chain with a jewel-encrusted heart locket hanging from it, each gem a different pastel color. However, what really got to me about that picture was how around Roxy's waist was a pair of arms - a pair of arms that belonged to a dark-haired boy named Damien. He had his chin resting on Roxy's shoulder, both of their heads bobbing against each other happily.

In another one of the photos, a brunette woman was dressed completely in white and holding a bouquet of orange tulips. A long veil raced down her back and touched the aisle of a church, which was covered in bright red rose petals. Pastel yellow and solid white decorations were spread all around in the background, two flickering candles by the floral alter noticeable to the flash that the camera must have made while taking the picture. A taller and noticeably muscular black-haired man that was dressed in a black tux stood beside the gleeful woman, his arm draped around her as he also shot a grin to the photographer.

The last picture had me bite down on my bottom lip. It was of the same brunette woman, dressed in a solid orange tank top and a mid-length floral skirt. She had her long hair gorgeously curled, the breeze having it whistle around softly in the air, and both of her hands were folded directly on top of her stomach. It was noticeable that she must have been at least four months into a pregnancy.

"I really wish you would let me take these pictures down..." I said in a slimly sighing tone, now standing directly at Roxy's side.

Roxy turned her head in the direction of my voice, having no choice but to crank her neck up a little. We might have been fraternal twins, but unlike me, Roxy looked more like she was fifteen instead of seventeen.

It came to my attention when Roxy looked at me that she really was wearing the locket that our mother gave her around her neck.

"You and I both know that if you _really_ wanted to take these pictures down, you would have done it by now." Roxy pointed out.

I scoffed, feeling almost insulted. "Hell will freeze over on the day I take any kind of advantage of your blindness, Roxy." I flipped my hair back, pausing for a moment before I said anything else. "Anyway...I already packed some of my socks in my bag to give to Allison. Do you have anything for me to give her?"

"Yeah," Roxy replied, as though she didn't hear what I said about hell freezing over. "It's all on my bed."

Dragging my attention away from the three framed pictures, I strolled over to the bed that was in the opposite corner of the room. As soon as my eyes laid on the items that were clustered together in a pile on the soft comforter, I immediately felt them expand, as if they suddenly became too large for my head.

"Lace boy shorts?" I practically had to force the words out of my throat. With the tip of my index finger and thumb, I pinched the edge of one of the plenty of pairs of completely lacey panties, lifting it up from the pile so I could examine it at eye level.

Roxy turned around in the direction of my voice, sliding the end of her cane against the carpeted floor in the process. "That's what Allison requested when I asked her if there was anything particular that she would like me to get for her at the mall," she explained, just as I dropped the pair of dark purple underwear back into the pile. "She also asked for me to get her some bras and a couple of-"

"Tampons," I cut her off when I tugged out one of the women monthly protectors from where it was peeking out from underneath a new black bra. "I can see that. That's sure as hell more than I needed to know about her."

I tossed the tampon back into the cluster and flipped open my knapsack, beginning to scoop up handfuls of the panties, matching bras, and lady products. "The things we do for that basket case..." I mumbled under my breath as I stuffed one fistful after another into my bag, but Roxy must have heard me, because she scoffed.

"You know you like her, Comrade."

I didn't stop jamming the underwear and women necessities into my knapsack as I spoke. "That's a damn lie. Allison is just a friend."

Roxy chuckled a little at my words. "You damn sure are an impressive liar. That's one of the millions of things that I just hate, but also can't help but admire about you."

I froze with what I was doing, two tampons and a deep red pair of lacey panties with a matching bra being clutched in my hand as I gazed over my shoulder at Roxy. I saw her still staring in my direction, a pretty smile toying around on her lips as the slowly increasing morning sunlight helped bring out the brightness of her silver eyes. Nonetheless, just as I was about to go back to stuffing the remains of the underwear and women products into my bag, something else snatched a hold of my attention. It was the front of Roxy's shirt; until now, I didn't realize this. There was the image of a vaguely glittery, silver heart designed over the center of her breasts, and just inches below it, there was a quote that was fancily written in Russian. In the same shade of silver, it said, " _Боль Рано оставляет вас с Старинный сердце_." ... ' _Pain Sooner Leaves You With A Restored Heart._ '

I could feel the strong irony beginning to pump through my veins. It made me feel like a bomb was beginning to tick in the pit of my stomach as my blood slowly started to heat up from anger. Every scar that was imprinted on my body started to feel like it was beginning to tingle, but my irritation instantly decided to steadily fade when I fixed my eyes back on Roxy's face to notice that she was no longer smiling. Her head was now tilted a little to the left, and confusion was sparkling like stars in her sightless eyes.

"Comrade, what's wrong?" Roxy asked, her just as noticeable Russian accent dripping in concern.

"Nothing," I almost immediately replied as I went back to focusing on stuffing the remains of the women monthly protectors and sexy underwear into my knapsack. I allowed a couple of seconds of silence to pass by before I said something else. "Are you all set to leave for detention? It's..." I then took a quick glimpse at the alarm clock on Roxy's nightstand before continuing the packing. "It's 6:50 and we have to be at the school by seven." During situations like this, we were lucky to live just a couple of minutes away from shitty Shermer.

Roxy gave me an eye roll, and then went on saying, "I can't believe Mr. Vernon gave _me_ detention for what happened between me, Carmen Fry, and Megan Tanner."

I didn't have the slightest clue who these 'Carmen Fry' and 'Megan Tanner' people were, and not to mention what Roxy even did to manage getting her ass landed in Saturday detention today.

"I know that Vernon will always be nothing but a bitch, but _nothing_ should be terrible to the point where he forces a handicapped to spend-" I continued to talk, but my voice faded at my final word when Roxy cut me off.

"Please don't call me _handicapped_. You know how I feel about the 'H' word." Roxy nearly hissed. It might have not seemed like it with the whole blindness situation, but Roxy really possessed a sassy attitude, especially if somebody pissed her off. For fraternal twins, that was the only mental similarity that Roxy and I shared; however, she just said whatever she came up with. I, on the other hand, always stated the truth.

"Sorry," I mumbled. By this point, I had finally finished jamming all of the items into my knapsack. I closed it back up and swung its strap over my shoulder, turning myself back around so I was facing Roxy's direction. She was still looking where she had heard me rummaging through all of Allison's new underwear and female necessities, stuffing them all into my bag. "Now you didn't answer my question," I said, "are you ready to head to the school or not?"

I didn't see how she _couldn't_ be ready; she was dressed, I had already packed her backpack up the night before, and Grandma was the one who was covering the lunches.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Roxy replied, but I could detect the hint of uncertainty in her tone.

"No, you're not," I released a small huff, desperately failing at not making it sound annoyed. "I can tell that you want something, Roxy. Tell me what it is and I'll get it for you."

Roxy pursed her lips for a minute, not even bothering to deny my objection. "Fine...I want you to put Mom's picture in my bag. I want to take it with us."

I could've sworn I felt my heart lock up in my chest. My eyes grew. I arched my eyebrows. "...Mom's picture?" I asked, clearly caught off guard. "You want to take Mom's picture with us to detention?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Roxy asked, sort of battering those sightless eyes in my direction. "After all, _you're_ the one who promised to get me what I wanted."

Even though I often did a shitty job at it, I always wanted to make Roxy feel happy all the time. Not only that, but like I said just a couple of minutes ago, I refused to take any kind of advantage to her blindness; and that included lying to her just because she couldn't see me hiding it.

I drew in a deep breath through my nostrils and held it in for a few moments, finally releasing it through my mouth. "I'll get it, Roxy." I assured. Her glowing eyes followed the sound of my converse stepping across the floor. Without a word, I snatched the framed picture of the pregnant brunette woman off from the top of the dresser. While unzipping one of the compartments of Roxy's backpack, which I had retrieved from the oak chair that was parked in front of her computer desk, I refused to look at the young lady's face in the photograph.

Carefully, I positioned the framed picture behind a couple of Roxy's folders and books, making sure to keep it hidden.

"Do you got it, Comrade?" Roxy asked.

"Yes, I got it," I muttered as I reclosed the compartment. "Do you want me to help lead you around today?"

Roxy was already folding up her adjustable cane before I even finished the question. "Yeah."

Going back to that endless list of things that Roxy despised about her blindness; next to receiving pity, Roxy _hated_ walking around in public with her cane because she didn't admire the attention that immediately snapped on her. She might've not been able to see anything, but she sure as hell could often tell when others were staring at her with condoling expressions plastered on their faces. At least when I offered to escort her around, not as many people froze in their tracks to shoot her sympathetic looks.

"All right." I took Roxy's cane from her and slid it into the side compartment of her backpack, which was usually occupied by a water bottle during the weekdays. Then, I carefully grabbed my sister's wrist and led her hand to my shoulder. I felt her fingers curl, digging into the leather of my jacket. "You good?" I asked.

She nodded slightly. "Yeah, let's go. The faster we arrive to that shit hole, the faster we get to come back home."

A small smirk curled up on the corners of my lips. "Hey, calling Shermer High School a shit hole is _my_ thing." I informed her with slight sarcasm as I escorted her out of her bedroom.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Roxy even more sarcastically said. "The faster we get to that _hell_ hole, the faster we get to come back home."

Hearing that got a couple of small chuckles out of me, but I remained focused on leading my sister down the hallway. The grip that she had on my shoulder stayed firm, especially when we reached the staircase. Like always, I stepped down a single stair and then waited as Roxy stepped down the one that was directly behind me, her hand not leaving my shoulder for a single second. Since our old home back in Russia was also a two-story house, Roxy did a pretty impressive job at climbing the staircase at a faster speed each time.

"Grandma, we're leaving!" I called out as soon as Roxy and I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Not so fast!" Grandma called back, the short distance of her traveling accent revealing that she was still in the kitchen.

"Damn." I mumbled under my breath with an aggravated roll of my eyes. Almost every time I had to leave the house to go anywhere, especially shitty Shermer since school was the main activity that had me gone for at least six-to-seven hours, my grandmother did this freaking pathetic inspection. It's where she would have me pull out all of my pockets so she could see if I was secretly carrying around a razor, blade, or anything sharp to the point where I could use it as a self-harm weapon. And what really pissed me off right now, other than knowing that I had to leave to serve another damn detention, was how I had inattentively jammed that pocketknife from my sock drawer into one of the pockets of my jeans from being in a rush.

"Take a seat here for a second, Roxy." I instructed, helping her sit down on the couch before I gently removed her hand from my shoulder. She sat up straight, folding both of her hands together on her lap and staring sightlessly ahead, blinking every few seconds. "I'll be right back." I assured, and then I turned my attention away from her, heading back into the kitchen.

I noticed immediately that my grandma was currently occupied in cleaning up some leftover pancake batter from the counter. She had her sunflower themed mug resting beside the coffeemaker, which was in the process in brewing some more of the dark, heavily scented beverage. Being smacked in the face by that thick smell had my nose crinkling for a couple of seconds, but I shook the disgust off the best that I could and focused on the time.

"Hey, Grandma, Roxy and I are _kind of_ in a rush." I informed, stretching 'kind of' out to prove how much of an understatement it was.

Grandma had snapped her head up as soon as she heard me address her. "Excuse me, Comrade, but that's no way to start a conversation with your grandmother."

"I'm not _trying_ to start a conversation," I sharply retorted. "I'm _trying_ to make sure that I get Roxy and I to detention on time."

My grandmother raised her eyebrows, refusing to remove her attention from me as she stripped the yellow rubber gloves that she had covering her hands.

"You better watch that mouth of yours, Comrade," Grandma warned, placing her right hand on her hip. "I can guarantee that's ninety percent of the problem behind why you are in detention nearly every Saturday."

With an uninterested eye roll, I crossed my arms over my chest and mumbled under my breath, "I speak the damn truth that nobody can handle saying because they are gutless asses."

Grandma took no hesitation to stand up straight. "What was that, Comrade?" She demanded, her accent now enhanced slightly. The seriousness that was contained in her eyes couldn't have possibly been more evident.

"Nothing!" I annoyingly exclaimed.

"No, tell me what you said!" ordered my grandmother.

"I said _nothing_!"

"You know that we absolutely do _not_ use that type of language underneath this roof!" Grandma proclaimed, as if I had repeated what I said just moments before.

I tightly pressed my lips together, gluing my eyes to the floor. The last thing that I needed before leaving for detention was accidentally letting it slip that Roxy and I cursed all the time whenever our grandparents weren't around, whether we were inside or outside of the house.

"Don't do it again," my grandmother said with a wag of her index finger, treating me like I was some damn kid. "You almost forgot to get Roxy's lunch. It's in the brown paper bag on the table."

Dragging my focus away from the tile floor, I rose my head back up and saw the prepared bag that Grandma was speaking of. It was waiting in the center of the kitchen table with Roxy's name neatly written in large cursive letters across one of the sides.

"I was going to make a lunch for you today too, but you never told me what you would like." Grandma informed.

When I stated earlier that my appetite was usually low in the morning...yeah, it was low during the time my lunch period was scheduled at Shermer too. I knew how much it irritated my grandparents when I barely ate anything. My lack of an appetite was the reason why my grandmother always gave me my plate during dinner first, and she would make sure to have extra servings of food covering it. The main meal that I commonly devoured _was_ dinner, but that didn't stop me from sometimes eating smaller portions of food for breakfast and lunch.

"I'm going to take a lemon for lunch," I said, somewhat muttering from holding back my previous aggravation.

"A _lemon_?" Grandma asked, the tone of her voice giving it away that she didn't know if I was kidding or not. "You want to have just a lemon for lunch?"

"And a bottle of water," I replied with a small shrug of one of my shoulders. "I'll take an apple for breakfast, too."

My grandmother puffed her cheeks out, hesitating for a couple of seconds before she caved. "Okay, if that's what you want." Though, the sound of her voice gave it away that she was clearly confused.

While Grandma began to carefully examine a couple of apples from the fancily designed fruit bowl like they were irreplaceable diamonds, I snatched up the first lemon I saw from one of the lower compartments of the fridge. Rubbing it slightly against my shirt, I blew a small puff of air against its bright yellow skin, right before I reached further into the back of the fridge and grabbed one of the unopened bottles of cold water.

Just as I carelessly dropped the lemon into a different paper bag, my grandmother began to wash the apple that she had finally picked out under the sink's faucet. She must have studied five other apples before she finally chose a bright red one that looked just as okay as all of the other ones did. After rinsing the apple, Grandma spun one of the handles around a couple of times, turning the water off.

"Okay, Comrade," Grandma said, using a nearby rag to dry off the curvy apple. "I believe you know by now what happens next."

I gave my hard eyes a roll. "Let me guess, you want to see what's in my pockets?"

"You know I only have you do this because I love you." informed Grandma.

Instead of saying anything back, considering I've heard that excuse come from my grandmother too many damn times to count, I plopped my paper bag down on the kitchen table beside Roxy's and jammed my fist into my right pocket. I wiggled my fingers around, not allowing myself to draw my attention away from my grandma's face as she watched my hand dance around inside of my pocket. Finally, I pulled out what turned out to be my keychain that had the key to my car and a copy of the key to the front door of the house hanging from it, along with an unopened pack of mint gum.

"What about your other pocket?" Grandma asked. She extended her arm out to me, the fresh apple resting in the palm of her hand.

I looked at her, a slight scowl plastered on my face as I silently took the apple from her. Without waiting, I sunk my teeth through the red skin and tasted the juice run through my mouth as I bit a chunk of the apple off. The taste coated my tongue immediately; in the silence, my chewing was able to be heard echoing from the inside of my mouth.

My grandmother arched her eyebrows at me. "Well, Comrade?" She asked as she then crossed her arms over her chest.

I placed the apple down on the table, but not without taking another quick bite, and as I chewed the new juicy lump that was in my mouth, I dug my opposite hand into my left pocket. Grandma's eyes flickered back and forth from my rummaging hand to the solid look that was in my eyes, but as soon as I pulled my hand out, revealing that I was now holding a pocketknife, my grandmother's new expression seemed to perfectly resemble a deer that was caught in headlights.

"A _pocketknife_?" Grandma was barely able to say the name of the weapon without sounding like she was choking it out. "Comrade, give that to me right this instant!"

"It isn't what it looks like, Grandma..." I informed, my voice raised slightly to get my pissed message across.

"I don't care what it looks like!" Grandma exclaimed. If Grandpa wasn't asleep, I knew that she would be bellowing loud enough that the whole neighborhood would file complaints. "Comrade, I said _give me that pocketknife_! Right now!"

As soon as she extended her arm towards me again, I handed the blade over. Her pale fingers curled up over its handle as she pulled it out of my reach, holding it in her grasp like it was one of the most expensive items in the entire universe.

"Oh, Comrade..." my grandmother released a sigh that was full of sudden sorrow. The seriousness that was previously glowing in her eyes had been replaced with strong sadness; and a large frown that seemed too gigantic for her face was yanking at the edges of her lips.

"It's not what it looks like, Grandma," I decided to repeat myself. "I didn't use it for anything."

"Well that doesn't mean that you weren't going to _maybe_ use it for something sooner or later," Grandma retorted. "Comrade...you've been doing so well. After all, your therapist hasn't contacted your grandfather or I over anything about your condition for over two months now."

Like Roxy with the term 'handicapped,' I _hated_ being described with the word 'condition.'

"Would you _please_ stop saying that depression is a _condition_?" I asked more harshly than anybody would admire. "It's not like I'm the _only_ teenager who has it."

Grandma placed her hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I know your not," she said, then removing her hand, "but you're still putting yourself at the risk of _slicing_ into your own skin whenever you feel like it."

Right there was something that I despised hearing from people. If they don't have depression, how would they know what goes through a depressed person's mind? I sure as hell didn't crave blades at times because I _felt like it_. That was such an unbelievable stereotype for people who were in my shoes.

"Can Roxy and I leave now?" I asked. "If we don't, we're going to be late."

My grandmother released another heavy sigh. "Comrade, I know that all of the events that happened back in Russia are still stuck in yours and Roxy's heads. I also know that your grandfather and I will never _fully_ understand the pain that you both are presently stuck with. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean that you should break your two months of being clean."

"We really need to go, Grandma," I insisted. I had heard every word that she had said, but God knows how much I really wished that I didn't. "Roxy and I will be back around three this afternoon." I then said as I snatched up both of the brown paper bags in one of my hands. My other hand grabbed my apple, and just before I took another small bite out of it, I mumbled, "We love you and Grandpa both."

Grandma silently watched as I turned away, but when I exited the kitchen, I still heard her mutter, "We love you both, too."

Roxy was still sitting where she was in the same position on the couch when I approached her.

"Okay, Roxy," I said as I took a gentle hold of her wrist and led her hand to my shoulder again. "We're ready to go now. Come on."

At first, Roxy didn't say anything back. Instead, she curled her fingers into the leather of my jacket and stood up, not saying a word.

I led her towards the front stained glass, holding the apple in my mouth until I opened it and had Roxy step out first. She gripped the wooden railing of the front porch, taking in the feeling of the breeze that was softly blowing through the air. Nevertheless, as soon as she heard the front door close behind me, Roxy spun herself around in the direction of the sound so she was facing me.

"She's wrong, you know?"

I slightly cocked one of my eyebrows, removing the apple from my mouth. "Who's wrong?" I asked.

"Grandma," Roxy replied.

I rolled my eyes slightly. "How much of the conversation did you hear?"

Following my voice, Roxy ran her hand up my arm and ceased it when it reached my shoulder. "I heard enough," she then insisted. "I know Grandma loves us, but I got to admit that her lectures really irritate the shit out of me at times."

I breathed a small laugh. "Yeah? Well just wait until you meet bitchy Mr. Vernon. Now be careful of the steps here."

As I carefully began to lead Roxy down the few steps of the front porch, there was nothing but pure silence. Other than the sound of the breeze whistling through the air, a couple of neighborhood dogs barking in the distance, and a nearby sprinkler that was currently watering somebody's garden, there was nothing.

However, by the time Roxy stepped down the final stair with me, she broke the quietness by saying, "Two months my ass, Comrade."

"What?" I naively asked, even though I really did know what Roxy was speaking about.

Roxy casually shrugged her shoulders. "You know what I'm talking about."

"How..." I lightly bit down on my bottom lip, beginning to escort my sister over to the passenger's side of my Range Rover. "How do you know?"

It was then Roxy's turn to breathe a laugh. "Comrade, I may be blind, but I'm sure as hell not unintelligent."

I didn't know what to possibly say back, so I decided to not say anything. All I really wanted to say was for her to keep her mouth shut about that around Grandma and Grandpa, but it's obvious that she wasn't planning to rat me out. If she didn't say anything about it while our grandmother was in the middle of lecturing me about my "condition," then it was obvious that she wasn't going to tell anybody what she knew anytime soon.

After tossing our bags and lunches into the backseat, I helped Roxy get settled in the passenger's seat of my car. Then, after she insisted that she could get buckled up herself, I slammed her door shut, headed over to the opposite side of the Range Rover, and climbed into the driver's seat. I started the car, taking one last bite of the apple before I buckled on my seatbelt.

"Next stop," I announced as I chewed between words. "Shitty Shermer High School."

I was going to break the speed limit at least a little bit. It was time to take advantage of there being not as many members of the law enforcement watching the roads, considering it was an early Saturday morning.

Finally, I slammed my foot down, and I sure as hell kept my promise to myself as I backed out of the driveway, taking off down the street.

* * *

 **A/N: I know, probably one of the longest prologues in history! :)**

 **This took me over a _month_ to write! I hope you all admire how it turned out! **

**This prologue was meant to show pieces of the personalities and current lives of Comrade and Roxy Alexandrov, which was why it turned out so long. :) Believe me, there is still _PLENTY_ to learn and find out about these two siblings! **

**Please review! I really appreciate reviews! They make my day! :) :) :D :D**

 **The official "The Breakfast Club" starts in the next chapter, so stay tuned! :D :D :) :)**

 **See you all in the next chapter! Thanks for reading! :D :) :) :D**


	2. Seven-Oh-Six

**A/N: Hello fellow readers! :) :D Who is ready for the first official chapter? :) :)**

 **Before we begin, I would like to say I'm very proud to have reached my goal with getting four reviews on the prologue. That goal (receiving four reviews per chapter) still stands. :)**

 **So I would like to thank helinahandcart, Childhood Enigma, and the two guests, Sofia and HamHamHammy for taking their time to review the prologue. I would also like to thank Thetroublewithexes and Childhood Enigma again for being the first ever ones who added this story to their favorites. Also, I have yet another thank you to give to Childhood Enigma for being the very first follower. Thank you guys _SO_ much! **

**I also forgot to mention this in the previous author's note: I would very much appreciate it if I didn't receive any flames, criticism, insults, or any negativity in any of the reviews. I understand that not everyone is going to like every single story in the entire world, but I'm honestly very proud of my writing and I love spending my free time with these fanfics of mine. I'm excited to write this whole story out for all of your enjoyment, so please, respect my request. Thank you very much. :) :D :)**

 **I _do not_ own anything from "The Breakfast Club." I only own the Alexandrov family, who are mainly the Reality Check and the Handicapped, Comrade (and yes, that's his real name) and Roxy. :) Everyone else, including the whole brilliant "The Breakfast Club" plot, belongs to the genius John ****Hughes (RIP to him).**

 **Please review! I appreciate each of them very much! :) :)**

 **Enjoy the chapter, everybody! :D**

* * *

 _Comrade's POV_

As I escorted Roxy down one of the long and vacant hallways of shitty Shermer, I kicked a few pieces of paper that were lying on the floor out of my way. They were pages from last week's school newspaper, the front page reading "Clarke Sparks Grapplers" in thick black letters. I felt Roxy's fingers curl more, digging deeper into my shoulder when the pieces of paper flew away from each other, taking off in opposite directions from the slight draft my swift kick gave off. "Clarke Sparks Grapplers" slid across the dirty tiles and flung into a row of yellow lockers, abandoned from the rest of the pages flying down to the opposite end of the hall.

Roxy quietly scoffed, slightly lessening her grip on my leather jacket. "Was that really necessary?" she asked.

"Damn straight," I simply answered. Just then, as we came across the same yellow poster that was too gigantic for anybody to ignore (especially me since I had to pass that damn thing between each of my periods), a small smirk began to mess around with the corners of my mouth. The reminder "Vote For Your Prom Queen" was smacked on the huge poster, decorated in blue, yellow, and white. There was also some red, due to the overuse of the deep red glitter on 'Prom' and 'Queen.' Small chuckles escaped from my lips as I grabbed the end of one of the vaguely sparkly streamers, giving it one rough tug. That was enough to cause it to snap, fluttering down from the poster and landing on the floor.

"Oops," I said in total mock, beginning to chuckle again afterwards. Last Saturday, I served detention for printing the word "DIE" in white spray paint on the exact same poster. It was still where I had marked it, too. Not only was I busted by Mr. Pain in the Ass Dick Vernon, but he confiscated my spray paint, called my grandmother to make sure she was aware of my new troublemaking move, and assigned me that Saturday detention. However, I was in detention today for an entirely different issue.

I didn't need to see Roxy's eyes to know that she just rolled them. Nobody would actually be able to them since she was now wearing her specialized sunglasses. They looked just like any other pair of dark glasses, but the unbelievably dim lenses were created to mask her eyes and keep them hidden.

"Comrade, can't we just get to the library?" Roxy asked. In the hand that wasn't grasping my shoulder, she was clutching the top of a miniature bag of barbeque chips that I had stole out of the cafeteria for her. Despite how I pulled into the high school at exactly 6:59, I couldn't handle listening to Roxy's stomach growl for another minute. When it came to me, due to my lack of an actual appetite and the habit of commonly skipping meals, having just an apple for breakfast had no affect on my hunger. Though, Roxy was a different story; if she didn't eat, it was like her body was immediately jumping to the conclusion that she was trying to bitch around with her health.

"Relax," I huffed, nudging a part of the streamer off from the top of my shoe before I began leading the way again. "The library is just down this hall."

Roxy muttered "Good" under her breath, but other than that, she didn't say anything else.

Since I've always had a long memory and I received too many detentions to count, it was a very simple task for me to memorize the location of each classroom and understand which hallway led where. I might have not always been a student at Shermer, but I definitely knew the school like it was the back of my hand.

When Roxy and I reached the end of the hall, which collided with yet another hallway and created a 'T' shape, I froze in my tracks when my eyes met the entrance of the library. The door was wide open, practically screaming "Welcome to Saturday detention!" to anybody who had no choice but to be here today.

"Why did we stop?" Roxy asked. She was staring straight ahead at the showcase that was advertising most of the supplies that could be found in the student store, unaware that we had to turn down the right end of the hall in order to reach the door to the library.

"We're about to walk into the library," I informed, waiting a couple of seconds before I turned my head, fixing my attention on my sister. "Are you ready?"

Roxy breathed a quick and dry laugh, right before she said in a flat tone, "No, but we have to get this damn detention over with. Let's go." She attempted to walk first, her hand still squeezing my shoulder, but I quickly grabbed her arm and led her down the right hallway until we reached the library's entrance. If I hadn't reacted quickly, she would have walked the small distance that was between us and the wall and bumped right into the showcase.

As soon as Roxy and I entered the library, my eyes landed on Claire Standish - the bitchy redheaded princess of Shermer High School. She was wearily sitting at the first table, her hands folded over the top of this small grey bag that looked like it came from some overpriced shop. It took her a couple of seconds to realize that she was no longer alone in detention, but by the time Roxy and I were beginning to stroll past her table, Claire's brown eyes immediately made contact with my electric blue ones. I purposely slowed my walking down, keeping the staring contest going for a few moments before I witnessed the disgust sweep across the redhead's face. She narrowed her eyes at me and shook her head, her plumpish lips beginning to press together like she was trying to fight back a disturbed yelp.

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "That's real damn mature, princess. Maybe if you vomit all over yourself, your daddy will come and after he cleans you all up, he'll promise you a shopping spree to make you feel better." I muttered, tapping my knuckles against her table a single time. I didn't need to look at Claire's face to know that she was shooting me a hard glare, but she could glare at me all that she wanted. I didn't give a shit.

Roxy remained silent as I guided her down the narrow aisle that was created from the two rows of three tables. When we reached the final table in the first row, I gently removed Roxy's backpack from her and leaned it against one of the wooden legs. After that, I pulled out the chair that was closest to the aisle and helped Roxy sit down, immediately noticing that she was having difficulties with opening up the bag of barbeque chips.

"Roxy, let me open that for you." I said as I slipped off my knapsack and dropped it to the floor. Roxy didn't even bother objecting like she usually would, ceasing her attempts at opening the miniature bag and allowing me to take it from her from where I had seated myself in the empty chair beside hers. All without saying a word, too.

Claire turned around in her seat, staring at me and Roxy in disbelief. " _Chips_ for breakfast?" Her prissy voice was full of total judgment.

I peeked up at her for a split second, but then focused on the chip bag again. "Anything is better than the air that _you_ have for breakfast, gingersnap." I sneered, waiting for a few seconds before I took another small glimpse up at the redhead to notice her sending me an even more solid scowl. A small, clearly mocking smile toyed around with the edges of my lips for a couple moments, but it disappeared when Claire turned back around in her chair.

"Comrade," Roxy whispered, her accent dripping with seriousness, "can you go a _day_ without being such a smartass?"

I finally ripped the top of the bag open, releasing the delicious scent of the barbeque chips that were inside. "I'm just being realistic, Roxy. Now eat your chips." I simply said, handing the miniature bag back over to her.

After releasing a small huff, Roxy obeyed, digging her hand into the bag and pulling out a small handful of the chips, stuffing them into her mouth almost instantly.

I leaned back in my chair and kicked my feet up on the top of the table, keeping one of my hands folded over my half eaten apple as I rested it against my stomach.

Suddenly, here came the dorkiest teenager in all of mankind. Brian Johnson, dressed in a cheap brown jacket and a pair of light tannish khakis, was hardly acknowledged by the Princess as he entered the library and walked past her table. By the time the Nerd silently made it to the middle table in the first row, I noticed that he was eyeing Roxy with this stupidly confused look glued on his face. For a few seconds, he watched as she stared blankly ahead and stuffed another handful of chips into her mouth, her dark sunglasses continuing to hide her eyes.

Though, when Brian turned his head towards me and saw that I was giving him what I referred to as 'demon eyes,' he quickly turned away and acted as naturally as possible as he took a seat. My 'demon eyes' expression was a certain glare of mine; it was when I felt the need to defend Roxy spark inside of me and I made my hardened eyes widen to the point where it was like my scowl came from an actual horror movie. Even _I_ thought that it was pretty creepy at times.

As I ceased my glaring at the Nerd, it came to my realization when I looked back to the front of the library that somebody else had welcomed themselves into the detention. Andrew Clarke approached the redhead's table, showing off his varsity letterman's jacket with a large brown bag being clutched in one of his hands. Without shooting the smallest glance at me, Roxy, or the Brain, Andrew silently gestured to the chair that was closest to the aisle at Claire's table. In return, the Princess shrugged. Of course she would allow _Andrew_ of all people to sit with her. After all, he's from " _her kind_."

The Athlete pulled out the chair, placing his large bag on the floor before he sat down.

John Bender, who I remembered from almost all of my previous Saturday detentions and who I deeply despised, came walking through the door next. None of the other detainees cared to pay attention to how he began to fiddle around with some of the objects that was flooding the librarian's desk, knocking the phone off its receiver before he pocketed a pad of hall passes.

Slipping his dark shades up until they were resting on top of his head, Bender kept his distance from the first table as he walked around it. While doing so, he seemed to have been examining Claire and Andrew, but by the time the Criminal reached the middle of the aisle, his brown eyes had entirely focused on Brian. The silence remained thick enough to be sliced with a knife as Bender motioned for the Geek to get the hell out of his seat.

Brian took no hesitation to listen. While keeping a weak staring contest with Bender, Brian stood up and accidentally dropped his hat to the floor. Quickly, the Brain snatched it back up and gave Bender one final eye to eye glance before he took a seat at the second row's middle table. Bender, on the other hand, sat down and placed his sunglasses on the table before he used the chair that Brian was previously sitting in as a footstool.

Just then, I witnessed Allison quickly shuffle past Andrew and Claire, looking like she was hugging herself. She ignored the different sets of eyes that were beginning to follow her as she took the longer path around the tables, stepping around the strange looking statue in order to get to the last table that was in the second row, across from mine and Roxy's. I could tell that she must have not noticed that Roxy and I were there, because as soon as she slapped her few folders down on the table, she sat down so her back was facing everyone.

Claire and Andrew glanced at each other, hesitating for a moment before they quietly began to exchange snickers. I rolled my eyes at their soft laughter and swept my feet off the table, right before I brought my apple up to my mouth and I sunk my teeth into its juiciness, biting off another chunk for me to chew.

Silence made a reappearance, but this time, it only lasted for a few seconds. The irritating squeaking coming from Dick's shoes repeatedly sang through the air as he entered the library. He had a small, conceited smirk spread across his face as he examined around the room, probably making sure that every assigned detention goer was there.

"Well, well, here we are," Vernon said with so much disrespect in his voice that a new word just had to be invented to describe it. "I want to congratulate you for being on time."

The Princess suddenly raised her hand. "Excuse me, sir? I think there's been a mistake. I know it's detention, but... um... I don't think I belong in _here_."

A small, scornful smirk slipped across my face. "Aw, what's the matter, strawberry?" I asking, clearly teasing as I sat up straight in my chair. "You afraid that you'll break one of your perfectly manicured nails in front of the rest of us?"

Roxy pressed her slightly grinning lips together, preventing any snickers from leaking out as Claire immediately gazed over her shoulder at me. The look on her face - the bright shade of red that was decorating her cheeks and the strong impatience that was contained in both of her Hershey colored eyes - gave it away that she was entirely fed up with me for one day.

"Mr. Alexandrov," Vernon spoke up again, purposely making himself sound like he was trying to clear his throat when he said my surname. "I see that you successfully managed to sacrifice another one of your Saturdays in order to be in here with us today."

"What can I say?" I shrugged sarcastically, but continued to smirk a little. "I'm honored that you adore my presence, Rich."

"You better watch that mouth of yours, Mr. Alexandrov!" Vernon snapped, warningly shooting his index finger at me. "I'm pretty damn sure that you're available to be here next Saturday if you dare try bitching around with me!"

I wiped my smug grin off my face and rolled my eyes, but decided not to say anything back.

After a few moments of silence, Vernon removed his glare from me and turned his attention to his watch.

"As I was saying, it is now seven-oh-six." he informed dully, which was all it took for Brian to quickly glance at his own watch, too. "You have exactly eight hours and fifty-four minutes to think about _why_ you're here."

I was busy eyeing the floor as Dick talked like anyone gave a shit to listen, but at the sound of what I could tell was somebody trying to clear their throat, I looked back up. Confusion fluttered in my eyes as they instantly landed on Bender.

"Ponder the error of your ways," Vernon continued, just as the Criminal tilted his head far back and spat into the air. A thick string of saliva flew, landing back in Bender's mouth just seconds later.

The Princess whirled herself back around in her chair, releasing a disturbed huff.

At the same time, Roxy sunk her lips into her mouth, clearly trying to hold back a gag.

' _The hell_?' was the first thought that raced across my mind. I narrowed my eyes at Bender in annoyance, but then rolled them away after a moment so I could fix my attention on Mr. Vernon.

"You may not talk," Dick sneered, pointing a finger at Claire, who stared back at him with this somewhat startled look plastered on her face.

Brian shifted his backpack to the edge of the opposite chair at his table, but just as he made it halfway to slide into the other chair, he froze from Vernon's next order.

"You will not _move_ from these seats,"

Despite how the principal wasn't even looking at him, Brian silently sat back down in his original seat.

I gave my head a slight flick to the left, flipping my brunette bangs out of my face. Just then, Vernon began to make his way down the narrow aisle. At first, I thought he was going to stop when he reached Bender's table, but I was proven wrong when he strolled past the Criminal's table and finally came to a halt when he made it to Roxy's seat. I could see the impatience and hatred beginning to harden faster in Dick's eyes as he bitterly stared at my sightless sister. I could feel my blood already beginning to slowly heat up.

"You will _not_..." Mr. Vernon hissed as he tugged Roxy's right headphone out of her ear, "listen to music." He then pulled out her left headphone, obviously not caring to consider how Roxy's Walkman wasn't even turned on.

Roxy bit down on her bottom lip and began to nibble at its skin, but other than that, she continued to stare straight ahead and refused to majorly react to Vernon's bitchiness.

I stared down at my lap, twirling my half eaten apple around in my fingertips. "Сукин сын..." I muttered under my breath, referring to Principal Dick. ' _Son of a bitch_.'

"And _you_ ," Vernon's voice had suddenly grown a hell of a lot sharper. Immediately, I whipped my head back up and realized that he was gesturing towards me. I began to assume that he heard me mumble my Russian insult, but again, I was proven wrong when he sneered, "You will _not_ eat anything until lunch!"

From the corner of my eye, I witnessed Roxy slowly place her left leg on top of her right after Vernon said the word 'eat.' Then she pinched the bottom of her skirt between the tips of her thumb and index finger, tugging on the denim fabric slightly to make sure that her shifting didn't result in any unnecessary exposure. Luckily, it didn't. Roxy always made sure to sit properly, but it didn't take me long to realize that she was really hiding the bag of barbeque chips underneath her left leg.

In order to keep Roxy's sneakiness a secret, I started to slowly stare around at the other detainees to see how they were reacting. Andrew and Brian were watching everything from over their shoulders, the glimpse glowing in the Brain's eyes giving it away that he was much more nervous than the Athlete. As for Claire, she wouldn't even drag her eyes away from her table. Bender, on the other hand, was wrapping a thin strand of thread around two of his fingers, pretending to occupy himself as he watched me from the corner of his eye. And lastly, Allison's shock was absolutely evident as it finally came to her realization that Roxy and I were serving the Saturday detention, too. I could've sworn that her jaw was about to slam against the floor.

A tiny grin startled to fiddle around with one of the edges of my mouth, but it instantly stopped when I looked back at Mr. Vernon. He was still standing there beside my sister's chair, but his cruel eyes refused to dart away from me. That solid look on his face was all that I needed to see in order to understand that he wanted me to hand over my apple. Considering my low appetite, I didn't give a shit whether Dick took my breakfast or not...but I wouldn't be me if I just _handed_ it over. Especially to _him_ of all people.

In the complete stillness of the library, I gave Vernon a hard stare that said "What are you going to do about it?" as I rose the apple to my mouth. My eyes stayed connected with his as my teeth removed another juicy chunk from the fruit, resulting in a loud _CRUNCH_ sound echoing through the air. Brian stared in disbelief, his mouth now hanging open in total shock from my disobedience.

Vernon's eyes widened in rage as he shot one of his index fingers at me. "That's it, Mr. Alexandrov! You just earned yourself another Saturday!"

I sarcastically laughed, giving him a quick view of the mashed up food in my mouth. "Oh, that's damn super!" I said between my chewing.

"That's another detention for your ass right there!" sneered the principal.

I swallowed before scoffing. "Do you honestly think having two new Saturdays to serve in this shit hole affects me?"

"I'll be the one to have an affect on you if you don't watch your damn tongue, Mr. Alexandrov!" Vernon held up three fingers. "That's three more detentions!"

"Is that _really_ the best you can do, мудак?" I asked with a small, bitter laugh. ' _Asshole_.'

Roxy pinched the bridge of her nose, quietly releasing a tiny groan that I could tell meant, 'Get me the hell out of this situation.'

Vernon's face was beginning to transform to a deep shade of scarlet. "That's four, you want five?" His voice was starting to rise, too.

I shrugged, taking another echoing bite out of my apple just to piss Mr. Vernon off even more. "Why the hell not?" I then chewed for a couple of seconds before I added, "It's not like I have anything better to do on the weekend."

"Well that sure as hell doesn't surprise me!" exclaimed Dick. "Mr. Alexandrov, I'll be expecting you here for the next six weeks!"

"Damn perfection!" I bellowed, right before I spat a seed into the air and watched it fall to the ground. "Pick that up for me, would you, Dick?"

That was definitely the last straw. Without any hesitation, Vernon jammed the pencils that he was clutching in one hand into his other, which was also occupied by some sheets of blank paper. Then he extended his arm out at the speed of lightning, reaching across Roxy and snatching the apple out of my hand. If I had saw that coming, I actually would've attempted holding onto it just to see if Mr. Vernon could get anymore pissed.

Right now, his entire face was beating redder than a flame of fire from the deepest pit of hell.

"Now it's _eight_ weeks, Mr. Alexandrov! Eight weeks and a phone call home!" Vernon furiously proclaimed.

I rolled my eyes, using my leather jacket's sleeve to wipe my mouth. I had finally decided right then to shut myself up. As soon as Vernon brought up the phone call, I knew that my ass had been served, whether the other detention goers realized that or not. I could definitely handle all of the detentions, but not the extra lectures from my Grandmother.

After receiving nothing but silence from me, I witnessed a small dash of satisfaction shine in Vernon's eyes, right before he began to gaze around at the other detainees.

"You will not eat anything until lunch," the principal repeated the previous rule, his attention suddenly locking on the Rebel. "And you..." Vernon stormed back to Bender's table, yanking the seat that Bender was using as a footrest out from underneath his feet. "Will _not_ sleep!" Mr. Vernon took a moment to eye the Geek and the Criminal, but then he started to shuffle the papers around in his hands. "All right, people, we're going to try something a little different today. We are going to write an essay."

At the word 'write,' Roxy took no hesitation to perk her head up. She had been looking down at the table and massaging the sides of her head with her fingertips from what must have been a headache, but now, I could tell that her eyes must have been huge behind her glasses. Mr. Pain in the Ass Dick didn't know that she was actually blind.

"Of no less than a thousand words," Vernon instructed as he made his way towards Allison's table. The Basket Case flicked her head in his direction, almost like she was flinching when he placed a slip of paper and pencil down on her table. "Describing to me who you think you are," Dick then added, placing two more pencils and sheets of paper in front of Roxy and I.

"This a test?" Bender asked when the principal reached his table, but wasn't acknowledged.

"And when I say essay, I mean essay," Mr. Vernon sat a piece of paper and writing utensil in front of Brian, ignoring how Bender kicked his feet up on his table in the process. "I do _not_ mean a single word repeated a thousand times." The warning in his tone increased as he finally finished handing out the supplies by giving the Jock and then the Princess their pencils and sheets of paper. "Is that clear, Mr. Bender? Mr. Alexandrov?" asked Vernon.

Bender glanced at him for a split second, but then gazed towards the floor. "Crystal." the Criminal absently assured.

"Right on the dot understandable." I said at the same time, every word drained from interest.

Vernon vaguely nodded. "Good. Maybe you'll learn a little something about yourself. _Maybe_ you'll even..." he eyed the ceiling for a minute, "decide whether or not you care to return."

Brian slightly raised his hand before he stood up from his seat. "Uhh, yeah, I can answer that right now, sir. You know, that'd be _no_ , 'no'for me. 'Cause-" The Brain wouldn't stop shaking his head as he spoke.

"Sit down, Johnson," Mr. Vernon growled, gesturing to the chair that Brian was sitting in.

The Geek stupidly gawked at him for a few seconds. "Thank you, sir..." he then said, sitting himself down like the little behaved virgin he must have been.

"My office is right across that hall. Any monkey business is ill-advised." Dick raised his eyebrows, pointing towards the library's entrance. "Any questions?"

Andrew vaguely shook his head, eyeing his and Claire's table, but other than that, there were no responses.

In the silence, Vernon dropped his arm and began turning to leave. Nonetheless, before he could try taking a single step, Bender spoke up.

"Yeah, I got a question..." he said, "does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?"

Roxy hastily bit down on her thumbnail, a small chuckle escaping from her mouth in the process. It was luckily too quiet for Dick to notice, but the Rebel was a different story. He _must_ have heard it, because I could see him watching Roxy from the corner of his eye, a smug grin tugging slightly at one of the edges of his mouth.

"I'll give you the answer to that question, Mr. Bender, next Saturday..." Vernon growled as he pointed at Bender, who was clearly left unfazed. "Don't mess with the bull, young man, you'll get the horns."

I leaned my head against my closed fist, my elbow pinned on top of the piece of paper that was going to remain blank in front of me. In my other hand, I vertically held the pencil that Vernon had given me between my middle and index fingers. My electric blue eyes followed the principal as he finally left the library to return to his office, his shoes continuing to squeak with every step he took.

"That man..." Bender stated, pointing a finger in the direction Mr. Vernon left, "is a brownie hound."

Roxy finally stopped biting her thumbnail, but I could see the slight amusement laced into her small grin.

Just then, as Andrew worked on unbuttoning his letterman's jacket and Claire placed her grey bag down on the floor, this sudden clicking noise started to interrupt the silence. Brian stopped turning midway in his seat, but as the popping sound continued, he finally locked his eyes on the Basket Case. Bender was next, slowly turning his head in Allison's direction with this look that said "You _can't_ be damn serious!" plastered on his face. Andrew was already glancing over his shoulder, not looking affected by the noise at all. As for Claire, this expression of absolute disgust and aggravation was smeared across her face. I was the only one smirking, considering Roxy and I knew _exactly_ what that sound was.

Allison was biting her nails, personally attacking her thumbnail like it had done something to her. For a minute, the Basket Case shot her thumbnail a look, but just as she was about to open her mouth again, she froze. First, she silently peeked over at Brian, Andrew, and Claire, a slim glare now plastered on her face. Then, she glanced over at Bender, Roxy, and I, waiting just a few more seconds before she took another bite at her thumbnail for all of us to see.

 _Click._

"You keep eating your hand, you're not going to be hungry for lunch." the Criminal commented with a couple of vague shakes of his head.

My smirk faded instantly. "You leave her alone." I growled, just as Allison hastily took another bite at her thumbnail and spat it in Bender's direction.

"I've seen you before, you know?" Bender informed. He pointed at the Basket Case, watching her purse her lips in a pouting manner before he drew his attention to me. "I've seen you, too."

"That's damn good for you," I sarcastically muttered with a small nod, but before I could get the chance to say anything else, Bender's eyes shifted to Roxy.

"But not you," he said, "I haven't seen you around here before."

Roxy turned her head slightly so she was staring exactly in the direction of Bender's voice. "Who, me?" she asked, placing her hand over her heart.

"Yeah, you." the Rebel confirmed.

For a moment, my sister paused. She removed her hand from where it was resting against her chest, right before she simply shrugged and said, "Then it looks like your ass isn't looking hard enough."

Another self-satisfied smirk swiped across Bender's face, it being the perfect resemblance to the grin he gave Roxy when he heard her snicker at his Barry Manilow crack. I narrowed my eyes, beginning to tap the tip of my pencil against the table. Bender must have noticed too, because just as he was about to go back to staring ahead, his eyes locked on me. His conceited smile faded without any hesitation, but I didn't bother removing my glare from him.

"What in the hell are _you_ staring at?" Bender asked.

I flicked my eyebrows up, as if I had just finished inspecting him. "Nothing much." I replied in a noticeably uncaring tone.

The Criminal stared at me for probably three split seconds before he rolled his eyes, turning away and slightly slumping down in his seat while he was at it.

I swept both of my feet back on top of mine and Roxy's table, tilting my chair back on its back legs in the process. Absentmindedly, I began trying to occupy myself in the strong boredom of the detention by fiddling around with my pencil, flicking it around in my fingers and tapping it some more against my piece of paper. Nonetheless, it wasn't long until my eyes flickered over to Brian's table from overhearing the sound of his voice.

"Who do I think I am..." Brian mumbled under his breath as he began playing around with his writing utensil. Roxy slowly turned her head in the direction of his voice. "Who are you? Who are you?" The Geek then attached the pen to his bottom lip, resulting in me staring at him in utter confusion. "I'm a walrus..." Brian breathed a small and quick snicker, bobbing the pen up and down a few times before he began to poke it up one of his nostrils.

Suddenly, Brian froze, the top of his pen still stuck up his nose as he slowly turned his attention over to me and Roxy.

I cocked an eyebrow at him, watching as his eyes flickered back and forth from me to my sister. A bright pink blush slipped across his cheeks, forcing the color blue from his nervous eyes to stand out. Then, with the pen still up his nose, Brian glanced over to Bender's table.

Until now, I hadn't realized that Bender had also allowed himself to get caught up in watching Brian make an idiot out of himself. Without a word, the Rebel grabbed the red scarf that was wrapped around his neck and pulled it off, refusing to take his hard eyes off the Nerd while he did so.

With a tiny laugh, Brian glanced away and unhooked the pen from his lip. He glanced down at his piece of paper, but then shot Roxy and I a shy smile from over his shoulder. I kept my eyebrow raised at him, as if I was saying "You damn sure are a strange child," but Brian didn't seem to really be affected by it. He hastily offered the same grin to Bender before going back to looking at his slip of paper.

Dragging his remaining leg off from his table, Bender made a move to take off his coat. Nevertheless, he and Brian both stopped halfway and stared at each other, realizing that they both were doing it at the same time. I watched, shooting my eyes back and forth from the Criminal to the Nerd while Roxy just connected her hands behind the back of her neck, having nothing to be interested in since she couldn't see anything and the room had grown silent.

Bender continued to strip his jacket off, but Brian stayed frozen. I thought he was waiting for Bender to finish before he slipped his coat off too, but I was proven wrong when Brian decided to start acting like he was cold. He blew into his folded hands, right before he pulled his jacket back up to his shoulders, covering himself back up. After a couple of seconds, Brian glanced back over at Bender, noticing that he was now hunched over in his seat with this murderous look plastered on his face.

Brian flashed another anxious grin. "It's the shits, huh?"

Bender remained quiet, looking like he was some vicious animal that was getting ready to lunge at its pray. In return, Brian released an uncomfortable chuckle. It took about another moment until the Rebel finally decided to glance away, allowing his full attention to land on the redhead that was sitting at the table in front of him.

Bender crumbled the piece of paper that Vernon had given him into a ball, eyeing it for a split second before he focused his interest back on the Princess. I could feel his careless eyes burying themselves deeply into Claire's back as he shifted his arm back, lazily chucking the balled up paper. It miserably missed Claire, flinging through the air between her and Andrew before it landed on the floor.

The Jock barely looked over his shoulder, but neither he or the Princess bothered to really acknowledge Bender.

Clearly not taking any interest in the reactions that he got, Bender glanced down at his lap and began to loudly hum, shattering the silence. He started tapping his foot against the floor, slightly bobbing his head up and down to his 'singing' as he strummed the strings of some imaginary air instrument.

Roxy slowly straightened herself up in her chair. "Какого черта..." she mumbled, taking the words right out of my mouth. ' _What the hell..._ '

With a roll of her eyes, Claire muttered under her breath, "I can't believe this is _really_ happening to me..."

Dodging my attention away from the Rebel, I shot a hard glare towards the back of the Beauty Queen's head. However, when I opened my mouth and sneered, "Go to hell, Rapunzel," I was left unheard when Bender ended his rendition by blurting out, "Oh, shit!"

Andrew and Claire glanced over their shoulders to see what the sudden outburst was all about.

"What are we supposed to do if we have to take a piss?" Bender asked, hastily looking around the room like he was expecting one of us to have the answer.

"Hold it in," I answered in a dead serious tone, but again, I was left unheard due to Bender's interest remaining on just the Beauty Queen and the Athlete.

"Oh, please..." Claire grumbled, her disgust totally evident as she shifted herself back around in her seat.

At the same time, Andrew rolled his eyes and vaguely shook his head in disbelief, trying to ignore Bender as he looked away.

I narrowed my eyes, clearly becoming annoyed. "You _hold it in_!" I repeated myself in a slightly sharper tone, tapping the tip of my pencil a little harder against my slip of paper.

For a few seconds, Bender managed to drag his attention away from the two preps in order to glance over his shoulder at me. I kept my scowl frozen on my face as I released a deep huff from my nostrils, as if I was a bull getting ready to charge. Bender allowed his mouth to somewhat fall open as he continued to stare at me, clearly unaffected by my aggravated stare. After he poked the inside of his right cheek a little with the tip of his tongue for me to see, the Criminal spun himself back around in his chair and motioned his arms in a shrugging manner.

"You gotta go, you gotta go." Bender declared as he reached his hands underneath his table. Within a couple of moments, the sound of him unzipping his fly was heard.

As the Criminal leaned forward and pressed his chest against the table, my eyes shot gigantic, a mixture of anger and disbelief swarming inside of them.

Andrew whirled himself back around in his chair, a strict look smeared across his face. His hardened eyes immediately started shooting daggers at Bender.

Claire, on the other hand, slightly stared over her shoulder for a brisk moment, clearly caught off guard. After realizing what the Rebel was doing, the Princess snapped herself back around and said "Oh my God" with must more disgust in her voice.

Roxy had her head tilted in Bender's direction, her jaw looking like it was about to slam against our table as she released a small huff of revulsion.

The Athlete tilted his head, taking a quick check under the Rebel's table to see if Bender really did flip out his manhood.

"Hey, you're not urinating in here, man." Andrew remarked.

Bender, unaffected by the Jock's warning tone, kept his eyes on the surface of his table. "Don't talk, don't talk! It makes it crawl back up!" he snapped urgently.

I flicked one of my eyebrows up once again as I witnessed Brian tilt his head to peek under Bender's table and examine his package, but I didn't bother to say anything.

"You whip it out and you're dead before the first drop hits the floor!" Andrew warned, his eyes growing more and more solid with each word he spoke.

Bender lifted his head, making eye contact with the Jock as he said teasingly, "You're pretty sexy when you get angry. Grrr..."

At the sound of the mockingly flirtatious growl, Andrew scowled at Bender for a couple of more seconds before he turned back around in his chair.

Shortly after the Rebel pulled his hands back out from underneath the table and folded them together, he fixed his eyes on Brian.

"Hey, homebody," Bender called, resulting in Brian looking over and pointing at himself with his pen, "why don't you go close that door, we'll get the prom queen and the Russian beauty _impregnated_."

 _Snap_.

As the Princess smacked her hand down on her table and sent the Criminal a hard glare from over her shoulder, I forced myself to shift my attention down to my tightly clenched fist that was resting on top of my piece of paper. My lips were angrily pressed together, almost vanishing from the rest of my now bright scarlet face as I watched myself slowly uncurl my fingers. It then almost instantly came to my attention that I had broke the pencil that Vernon had given me into two separate pieces without even trying.

"Shit..." I muttered under my breath, flicking my observation back and forth from one half of the broken pencil to the other.

I could see my sister sharply scowling in Bender's direction from the corner of my eye, a slowly darkening shade of red melting across her cheeks.

"Screw you, Bender!" Roxy bellowed in complete rage.

Bender looped his arm around the back of his seat, studying my sister with complete satisfaction. His eyes glistened with lust, which resulted in me biting down on my bottom lip to prevent every curse word in all of existence from flooding out of my mouth, and I witnessed a little smirk toyed around with one of the edges of his lips.

"With pleasure, babe." Bender winked at Roxy, obviously not bothered by how she was beginning to purse her lips in a furious manner.

"Hey!" Andrew exclaimed, clearly not liking what he was hearing. "Hey!"

Bender spun himself back around in his seat, the small grin no longer printed on his face as he made eye contact with the dirty blonde Athlete.

"What?" angrily proclaimed the darker-haired teen.

"If I lose my temper, you're totaled, man." the Jock warned.

Bender narrowed his eyes in disbelief, waiting a few moments before he said in an insulting voice, "Totally?"

Andrew shifted himself further around in his chair, resting his hands on its back. "Totally." He then confirmed in complete seriousness.

"Why don't you just shut up? Nobody here's interested." Claire sneered, briefly staring over her shoulder at the Criminal.

A hurt expression that was obviously fake swept across Bender's face, but it didn't last long. It disappeared just as he swung his arm around the back of his chair again, turning to face Roxy, who hadn't removed her attention from the direction of his voice.

"I believe the Russian queen actually gave me an invitation just a few moments ago." Bender commented.

The new smile that he had decorating his face was very seductive. It caused me to sharply narrow my eyes, my veins beginning to grow hot from the strong protectiveness I had for my sister leaking into every drop of my blood. Quietly releasing a somewhat quivering breath of obvious anger from my nostrils, I clenched the broken pieces of my pencil even tighter together in my slowly paling fist.

Roxy coldly scoffed, her sunglasses masking the rage that I could tell was contained in her eyes. "Bender, do us all a favor and shut the hell up." she scorned.

"Really." agreed the Jock as he and the Beauty Queen slowly turned back around in their seats. "Buttface."

Bender unhooked his arm from around the back of his chair and swung back around to face the two preps, but not without shooting Roxy a small glare. He couldn't get past me though; I could see the slight disappointment glowing in his dark eyes.

"Well hey, Sporto, what'd you do to get in here?"

When Andrew didn't respond to the Delinquent's angry question, silently eyeing his slip of paper, Bender continued.

"Forget to wash your jock?"

Before anybody else got the chance to speak up, the Criminal decided to kick things up a notch more by turning his attention towards Roxy once again.

"And you..." Bender paused for some shitty dramatic effect, flicking his index finger out so he was pointing at my sister, "...puffed too many joints before going to class?"

Having enough, I smacked the broken pieces of my pencil down against the table, just as Roxy stopped midway from stuffing another small handful of barbeque chips into her mouth. Did this son of a bitch just accuse her of being here today because she was getting high on school property?

"What about you, Rebellion 101?" I sneered, which immediately had the Delinquent locking his eyes on me. I made sure to make my accent sound much more insulting as I added, "You got caught ditching class to go stuff your tongue down some girl's throat?"

"Maybe so," Bender simply replied. He paused again, but then slightly leaned over the back of his chair, pressing his side against it. "Why are _you_ in here, Russian Massacre? Spoke your language to the point where your non-foreign teacher sentenced your ass here from not understanding a word that was coming out of your mouth?" Every word was much more mocking than the last, a scowl overrunning the Criminal's face.

I coldly glared back, but refused to say another word. It didn't take long until Bender's scowl transformed into a small, completely satisfied smirk. With every second that ticked by with him looking at me, the redder my burning cheeks got from my sharply increasing rage.

As I continued to scowl at the back of Bender's head after he turned back around in his chair, I quietly muttered "Иди к черту..." under my breath so nobody could hear me. ' _Go to hell..._ '

"Uh, excuse me, fellas?" Brian piped up. "I think we should just write our papers."

Nevertheless, the Nerd was left unheard by everyone except Roxy and I.

While chewing the most recent handful of chips that she stuffed in her mouth, Roxy sightlessly stared off in the direction of Brian's table. I, on the other hand, decided to watch what was about to unravel after I witnessed the Athlete whip himself back around in his seat.

"Look, just because you live in here doesn't give you the right to be a pain in the ass, so knock it off!" snapped Andrew.

Bender quietly huffed, pursing his lips like he was actually thinking about what he was just told. "It's a free country," the Rebel then stated, nodding his head.

"He's just doing it to get a rise out of you." Claire informed as she watched Andrew turn his attention away from Bender. "Just ignore him."

Bender glanced at her with this hungry look in his eyes, right before he flipped his hair in a pretty flirtatious manner. I easily caught a small glimpse of his earrings.

"Sweets..." the Criminal said, causing the redhead to glare over her shoulder at him. Another smirk, this one much smaller than the ones he shot Roxy, whisked across Bender's face as he said, "You couldn't ignore me if you tried."

Remaining quiet, Claire continued to stare at him for a couple of extra moments, as if that was her way of saying "Watch me." Finally, the Princess rolled her eyes, turning her head away from Bender.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Roxy still gazing off in Brian's direction. I also noticed that Allison was beginning to become more interested in everything that was going on, her back still facing everybody as she slyly glanced over her shoulder at Bender.

"So..." Bender vaguely licked his lips, pausing for a moment. He had already regained my attention. "So!" He repeated himself, sounding more eager.

Roxy snapped her head towards the Delinquent's table.

"Are you guys like boyfriend-girlfriend?" Bender asked the two preps, his eyes dancing back and forth from Claire to Andrew. "Steady dates?"

In the continuing silence, the Jock tapped his knuckles against the surface of the table, curling his fingers into a tight fist.

" _Loo-vers_?" Bender questioned, purposely stretching out the word just to aggravate the two higher class teens more.

I raised my eyebrows, beginning to debate who was going to be the one to crack first and how much longer it was going to take before either Andrew or Claire _did_ break.

By this point, the Criminal flashed an obviously staged puppy dog face, battering his eyes and puckering out his bottom lip. "Come on, Sporto, level with me." Bender whimpered, but then his ridiculously innocent act vanished as he said, "Do you slip her the hot... beef... _injection_?"

My eyes widened a little, but I watched with a straight face as Claire and Andrew finally spun themselves around, screaming "GO TO HELL!" and "ENOUGH!" at Bender.

The Rebel released a small laugh, obviously pleased with the reaction that he finally got.

"Hey!" Vernon's sharp voice suddenly called out from across the hall. "What's going on in there?"

I froze, keeping my head facing straight ahead, but I watched the library's door from the corner of my eye to make sure that Dick wasn't heading back into the room. It took me just a couple of seconds to come to the conclusion that Mr. Vernon wasn't leaving his office to come check on what all of the noise was about. As silence began to take over the entire library once again, I turned my head to stare at my sister, only to realize that she was still staring in Bender's direction. Her lips were puckered in a furious manner and a pastel shade of pink was now decorating her cheeks.

"At least that would mean Sporto actually _has_ someone to take care of his injection." Roxy growled, purposely allowing her mumbling accent to be heard.

Bender continued to stare ahead, but his mouth dropped open in mocking shock. The look in his eyes clearly gave it away that he wasn't affected by Roxy's comment, but I sure as hell couldn't resist cracking a small smirk, releasing just a couple of quiet snickers.

Andrew, after taking the time to shoot the Rebel another pissed off scowl, slowly shifted himself back around in his chair, but not without muttering, "Scumbag..."

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the first official chapter! :D :) :) :D**

 **ATTENTION: I'm leaving on July 4th for a vacation and I'll be gone for a week, so I won't be able to write during that time. Nonetheless, I'll be sure to get back to my writing as soon as I can when I get back. I'll also be writing a bit before I head there. Just wanted you all to know that. :)**

 **Remember, reviews make my day! Please review! :) :D :D :)**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter, everyone! See you all then! :) :) :) :) :D :D :D :D**


	3. You Don't Even Count

**A/N: Hey, everyone! :D :D I am pleased to announce that it is time for the second official chapter! :)**

 **Before we begin, I would like to thank Childhood Enigma and Reader103 for taking their time to review the previous chapter. Absolutely no words can describe how much they made me smile. :) I would also like to say thanks to Reader103 again for adding this story to their favorites list and StorySmith for adding it to their follows! Also, another thanks goes out to MischevousAngel0923 for adding this to their favorites and their follows! And lastly, another thanks to Prncssmldy99 for also adding this story to their favorites and their follows! :D Thank you all very much! I appreciate it completely! :D :D :) :)**

 **Remember, reviews make my day! :) :) Please review! I appreciate each of them very much! :D :D**

 **ALSO: I just want you all to be aware that I return to school on August 19th.**

 **Now enjoy the chapter, everybody! Happy reading! :) :D :D :)**

* * *

 _Comrade's POV_

It wasn't long at all before Bender rose from his chair, noticeably unbothered by the previous insults that were thrown at him from Roxy and Andrew. The small smirk that was printed on my face from what my sister had said remained glued on my face, but I was now slightly biting down on my bottom lip to help contain my remaining chuckles.

Other than myself, none of the other detainees bothered to watch the Criminal as he began to approach the railing. Nonetheless, at the sound of his footsteps interrupting the slowly reappearing silence, Roxy ended up snapping her head in his direction, too. Even though her sightless eyes were still hidden by her dark sunglasses, I could tell that not the slightest bit of her irritation had drained from them. Her cheeks were still coated with a bright shade of pink, also helping to expose how she was still pretty pissed. Which, by the way, was courtesy of none other than John Bender's dirty mind and very seductive comments.

"What do you say we close that door?" Bender suggested, gesturing towards the door. "We can't have any kind of hot party with Vernon checking us out every few seconds." He stopped walking and seated himself on top of the railing like I've seen him do in nearly all of my previous Saturday detentions.

My smirk faded like it was never on my face as I rolled my eyes away from the Rebel. My attention ended up landing on my blank piece of paper that was still lying in front of me. An unbelievable amount of boredom glazed across my electric blue eyes as they vaguely examined one of the broken pieces of my pencil. I tapped the eraser against the piece of paper as my mind began to fill in the blanks of what the definition of a 'hot party' must have been to somebody like Bender. Only five main topics repeated themselves: _Porn_ , _drugs_ , _alcohol_ , _cigarettes_ , and a hell of a lot of actually having _sex._

I slightly bit down on the tip of my tongue, trying not to bite too hard to the point where I would accidentally cause a bloodbath in my mouth. It didn't take long until I ended up releasing a small string of curse words in Russian under my breath so nobody would be able to hear me. At the same time, I rolled my eyes in clear annoyance again, remembering how Bender had been directing almost all of his sexual remarks to _my sister_. And that _really_ pissed me off.

"Well, you know, the door's supposed to stay open..." Brian finally spoke up as he motioned towards the wide open door with his pen. By the sound of his voice, it was obvious that he was attempting to sound brave, but he definitely failed miserably.

As I stopped tapping the broken end of my pencil against my sheet of paper, I flicked my head back up so I was staring off towards the Geek's table. My brunette bangs dangled in front of my right eye, but I refused to remove my attention from Brian as I nudged them out of the way with my fingertips. Then, as I slowly tucked them behind my ear to prevent them from falling in my face again, I cocked one of my eyebrows at the Nerd. I waited a couple of moments to see if he would turn the slightest bit in my direction so he could see me staring at him, but when he didn't, I decided myself to glance back over at Bender. Instantly, I noticed that he had practically the exact same expression as I did now printed across his face.

"So what?" nonchalantly asked Bender, an eyebrow twitched upwards.

The Athlete vaguely shook his head a few times before he finally turned his head in the Criminal's direction. "So why don't you just shut up?" Andrew demanded, waiting until Bender fixed his eyes on him before he added with a serious look on his face, "There's six other people in here, you know?"

"God, you can count. See, I knew you had to be smart to be a - a wrestler." Bender pointed out, each of his words bathed in a mixture of deep mock and sarcasm. He stared at the Jock disdainfully, his arms now lying flat across his thighs.

"Who the hell are you to judge anybody anyway?" Andrew asked as he glanced away from the Rebel like he wasn't worth looking at.

As soon as those words came out of Jockstrap's mouth, a small and slimly satisfied smirk tugged at the corners of Roxy's lips. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back a little in her chair. Until now, I hadn't realized that her nails were covered in this deep blue/black looking nail polish.

"чертовски верно." Roxy suddenly stated, just as Claire released a small snicker after saying "Really..." towards Andrew's comment. ' _Damn straight._ '

The redhead's chuckle gained Bender's attention in less than a second, but as soon as my sister spoke up, the Criminal's eyes flickered over to her at the speed of lightning. Nonetheless, not a word came out of Bender's mouth.

"You know, Bender, you don't even count." Andrew cruelly informed as he stared heartlessly at the Criminal. "You know, if you disappeared forever, it wouldn't make any difference." The Jock then casually shrugged one of his shoulders as he decided to finish up with, "You might as well not even exist at this school."

I had already turned my head away from Bender again as soon as Andrew began his brutal statement. Nonetheless, with each cold word that came out of the Jock's mouth, the more the disbelief hardened inside of me. With my eyes now slightly widened from being stunned, I witnessed the scornful smile that was spread across Roxy's face immediately fade, as if it was never there.

Then, as my attention leaped over to Allison without me needing to shift from the position that I was in, I instantly noticed the pity that she had for the Criminal etched across her whole face. From the compassion that was glistening in her brown eyes to the straightened position she had her lips in, it was obvious that she wished that the Jock hadn't said such a terrible thing.

In the cold silence that actually managed to reappear in the detention, I forced myself to look back over at the Delinquent. Much to my surprise, even though I didn't show the tiniest piece of it at all, he was no longer looking at anyone in particular, staring off in the distance with this look of actual hurt smeared across his face. I don't know why in the hell seeing John Bender of all people like that caused some of my stored up anger to get sharply triggered, but it did. Maybe it was because I knew that I was also very rebellious, and the last thing I needed in my damn life right now was to be told by some bitchy and snot-nosed athlete that it wouldn't matter if I vanished from all of humanity.

Suddenly, with that image of me just slowly fading away in a large crowd and nobody even taking the time to notice trapped inside of my head, I found myself loudly slamming my hands against mine and Roxy's table as I angrily rose from my seat. The sound of my chair's wooden legs scraped against the floor. Without any hesitation, the rest of the detainees spun themselves around and faced me. I could feel the palms of my hands beginning to sting from how hard I smacked them down, but I didn't shift them from where they were on opposite sides of my blank sheet of paper.

"Товарищ, не..." Roxy softly spoke. ' _Comrade, don't..._ ' She reached her hand out, most likely thinking that she was about to grab my wrist, but in visual reality, if she actually did manage to grab a hold of me, it would turn out to be a handful of my right hip. So to save Roxy from the risk of becoming embarrassed whenever she came in contact with any of these other detainees during school hours, I grabbed her hand and gave it a small squeeze to assure her that I wasn't going to get physical with anyone. (Which, by the way, was _always_ a terrible thing for me to promise anyone, _especially_ Roxy. If there was one main thing that I was spectacular at, it was getting into rough fights. They each commonly ended with me walking away with some bumps and bruises, but the other guy looked like a harassed victim from one of those crime movies.)

"Я получил это..." I quietly stated in a dead serious tone, despite how I wasn't even looking at my sister. ' _I got this..._ ' After I hastily placed Roxy's hand back down on top of her piece of blank paper, I slid out from where I was standing between my chair and the table. Everyone's eyes followed me, the sound of my footsteps shattering the stillness in the library until I decided to reseat myself on top of mine and Roxy's table. My legs dangled over the edge and the tips of my teal converse grazed back and forth across the floor as I shot the Athlete a bitter scowl.

"You know something, Sporto?" I asked, but instead of giving him or anybody else the chance to speak up, I continued. "I've always known when I saw you in the halls with all of your high-class jockey pals that you must've been an asshole, but I never knew that you would turn out to be _this_ much of an asshole." With my hand, I gestured from Andrew's excessively white sneakers to the top of his dirty blonde hair.

In return, Jockstrap narrowed his deep blue eyes at me and leaned over the back of his chair a little. "Why don't you mind your own business?" he then asked, the tone of his voice giving it away that he was actually _warning_ me.

It took me a couple of seconds to digest what I was just told before I allowed a very realistic smile to stretch widely across my face. "Wow, Sporto," I said, clearly staging my impressed tone. "That was - that sure as hell was an _excellent_ comeback." I placed my right hand flat against my muscular chest, hovering it directly over where my heart was located. "You know, I must admit that I'm _very_ impressed by it. Yeah, I'm definitely impressed by how well you constructed that response." After patting over my heart a couple of swift times, I removed my hand from my chest and turned my head in Roxy's direction. Immediately, I noticed that she was looking directly back at me as she absentmindedly tapped the eraser end of her pencil against the edge of the table, probably wishing that she could see so she could've got me to sit back down. "Hey, Rox," I said as I gave her shoulder a gentle nudge with my knuckles. "Did you just hear that _great_ comeback that Wrestle Mania just shot at me? It was just _phenomenal_ , wasn't it?"

"Please..." Roxy groaned, obviously still pretty irritated. I didn't need to see her silver eyes to know that she just rolled them. "Do _not_ drag me into this."

I blinked at her a couple of times, but didn't bother to try objecting to her request. Instead, I flipped my shoulder-length hair back and fixed my eyes back around on the Athlete, the phony grin no longer printed across my face.

"Sporto, there's only _one_ thing that was actually impressive about that so-called comeback. And that one impressive thing is how you _actually_ managed to shove aside your usual thoughts in order to come up with it." I hissed, every word of my heavy accent dripping in pissed off venom.

Andrew still had his eyes narrowed at me. "My _usual_ thoughts?" he impatiently asked, as if those were the only words that he heard me say.

"Yeah, your usual thoughts." I crossed my arms over my chest and shrugged one of my shoulders nonchalantly. "You know, like you taking a different cheerleader home after each pathetic wrestling tournament and screwing them before never speaking to them again. Betting money on who could lift the most weights when you're working out with the rest of the hot-headed jocks. Sneaking around steroids and hoping to God that the coach doesn't catch you taking any. Reminding yourself that you have to go back and forth from _stuffing_ yourself to _starving_ yourself in order to fit a wrestler's 'ideal' weight..." Suddenly, I stopped, and a small smirk welded up on the corners of my lips when I realized how red Andrew's face now was. "And that's just a few of the dozens of more things that I know goes through your mind, Jockstrap."

By this point, I was beginning to wonder whether or not steam was ever going to start pouring out of the Jock's ears.

"What in the hell makes you think that you're such an expert on me? You know _shit_ about me, faggot!" Andrew snarled. One of his hands were clutching the back of his chair so hard to the point where his knuckles now looked as pale as a sheet.

I sharply narrowed my eyes, choosing to ignore how he said I didn't know anything at all about him. But I sure as hell decided to take in how he addressed me as a _faggot_. "Well, what makes _you_ think that you can say such shitty things to people and actually get away with it, you pathetic prick?" I commanded to know, almost speaking through entirely clenched teeth. "You have no damn right to tell anyone that they could just vanish into an oblivion and it wouldn't make any difference in anybody else's life!"

From the corner of my eye, I could see the shock that was etched across Bender's face from where he was still chilling on the railing, watching my every move. Honestly, I was just as shocked as he was; I was technically standing up for him, even though I was mainly doing this to defend for myself.

"Well, I'm being honest with him, you bitch!" Andrew hissed. He didn't even bother to give the smallest gesture towards Bender, but it was obvious that the Athlete was referring to him.

I breathed a quick laugh, slight amusement lacing its way across my mouth for a few seconds. "Look, I know I'm a bitch," I truthfully stated with a couple of chuckles leaking into my words. But then, the amusement vanished in the blink of an eye and my quiet laughter transformed back into my sharp and serious tone. "But being honest is _my_ thing, Sporto. You're not being honest, you're just being a dick."

"And you're no better than him!" bellowed the Athlete, who still didn't shoot the Criminal the slightest look or gesture. "You are _just like him_! Your ass could disappear from where you are sitting right now and it wouldn't matter! Nobody would notice, and those who actually bothered to notice wouldn't really give a damn! In all honesty, it wouldn't mattered if you just died!"

Allison's mouth dropped open, looking like it was about to slam against the floor. By this point, her dark eyes were drowning and overflowing with pity, but not a word escaped from her mouth.

As for Brian, I could've sworn that I saw him flinch from the corner of my eye when Andrew carelessly said the words ' _die right now_.' If I wasn't so caught up in thinking about everything that was just bellowed at me, I probably would've cocked an eyebrow at the Geek, but all I did was keep my mouth shut and not do anything.

And just like that, as what felt like a lightning bolt shot straight through the center of my heart, Roxy shot up from her chair so fast that she knocked it onto its back legs. It nearly tumbled back, but caught its own balance and landed back on all four of its wooden legs, right behind my blind sister.

"You better watch that mouth of yours, Sporto!" proclaimed Roxy, almost spitting from her accent being overrun with so much fury. She had followed the sound of his voice, staring directly towards the front table that was occupied by the Beauty Queen and the Athlete. "Sooner or later, you're going to have to deal with the guilt from those words finding a way back to you and biting you right on the ass! You hear me? Nobody, and I sure as hell mean _nobody_ on this entire planet, is allowed to talk to my brother like that unless they want to deal with me!"

"Your _brother_?" Claire asked, the stunned look on her face - her wide eyes and somewhat fallen open mouth - giving it away that she was caught off guard.

At the same, Roxy and I flicked our attention over to the Princess, but before I got the chance to speak up, Roxy beat me to it.

"Yeah, he's my brother. Who'd you think he was?"

For a couple of silent seconds, Claire eyed my sister, but then her attention jumped over to me. In return, I flicked my eyebrows up and kept the staring contest going strongly, as if that was my way of saying, 'Go ahead. Answer the question.' Nonetheless, all Claire did when she glanced back at Roxy was purse her plumpish lips and raise her shoulders in a shrugging motion, clearly too embarrassed to say the response that I knew she already had. Without a word, the redhead shot me one more quick glance and then turned herself back around in her chair.

"I, uh ... um..." the Geek suddenly spoke up, stuttering into his knuckles. "I personally thought that you guys were - uh - dating."

Bender, Allison, and Andrew didn't seem to have been affected by Brian's comment. They haven't removed their attention from Roxy and I, but Claire, who was back to staring at her piece of paper and tapping the end of her writing utensil against it, came back into the conversation by saying, "Yeah, that's what I thought, too."

I narrowed my eyes at the Nerd and then at the Beauty Queen in a mixture of disbelief and disgust. After that, I pressed my lips together so the corners of my mouth were slightly crinkled. It looked as though I was exclaiming, 'Are you being freaking serious right now?'

Roxy shook her head, the tiniest bit of hilarity slipped across her face. "Well, I can positively assure you that we're not dating. We're twins." She helped herself back down in her seat with no difficulties whatsoever.

I pushed myself off from the table, catching the view of Brian's eyes expanding in his skull before he blurted out, " _Twins_?"

" _Fraternal_ twins," I casually informed each of the other detention goers as I seated myself back down in my chair. "I'm ten minutes older than her." I pointed towards Roxy with my thumb for a slim second, not even looking the slightest bit bothered by all of that shit that Andrew said to me. However, like I stated awhile before, I was a master at disguising my depression.

Silence took over for what felt like a full minute, but was really just about six seconds. Everyone had turned back around in their chairs, going back to being swallowed by the quietness, but Bender remained where he was on the railing. I was beginning to think that no one was going to try saying anything else for the remaining eight hours and whatever minutes we had left to spend in this shit hole; but I was proven wrong when Bender clicked his tongue in his mouth, the shocked expression long gone from his face. He instantly gained over everyone's attention.

"Well," the Delinquent said as he turned his head back towards the two preppies. "I'll just run right out and join the wrestling team." A small smirk was fiddling around with his lips.

I cocked an eyebrow at him, slightly confused in what he was doing. Nonetheless, my eyes immediately flickered over to Claire and Andrew when I heard them beginning to quietly laugh. And sure enough, they were looking at each other and exchanging snickers, which had me biting down on the inside of my left cheek to prevent me from asking how in the hell was that so funny. I mean, I knew that I couldn't picture Bender supporting Shermer by being on any sorts of teams either, but I didn't see how it was still funny to picture.

"Maybe the prep club too." Bender added. He was motioning around with his head a little. "Student council."

"Что дальше, плавать команда?" I said sarcastically, but even though I knew that the Rebel acknowledged me, he didn't send me the slightest glance. ' _What's next, the swim team?_ ' Hearing me say that resulted in Roxy grinning a little and muffling a couple of chuckles, but she just shook her head and didn't say anything.

"Nah, they wouldn't take you." Andrew said to Bender like it was the most obvious thing in the whole universe. The Athlete then glanced over his shoulder, staring right at me as he added, "They wouldn't take you either."

I took the time to narrow my eyes at him, but then I just crossed my arms over my chest and shrugged simply. "That sure as hell sounds good to me. I didn't want to be involved in any of shitty Shermer's activities anyway." In all honesty, I probably would've seemed more insulted towards Sporto's comment if I actually did want to be apart of any of the clubs or teams, but unlike Roxy, I was nowhere near the school spirit type.

"Well, I'm hurt," Bender mockingly said after Andrew gazed back at him.

Claire stared at him scornfully, twirling her pencil around in her fingers. "You know why guys like you knock everything?" she asked.

"Oh, this should be stunning." Bender sarcastically commented. The look in his eyes gave it away that he wasn't interested to hear what the Princess had to say, but at the same time, he just wanted to hear her say what she figured she knew.

"It's because you're afraid." Claire said, right before she looked back at me from over her shoulder like Andrew had done and added, "Both of you are."

Immediately, my eyes expanded from feeling caught off guard. I unhooked my hands from where I had connected them previously around the back of my neck and slowly leaned myself forward in my seat until my chest was gently pressed against the table.

"Oh, God, you richies are so smart. That's _exactly_ why I'm not heavy in activities." Bender retorted, the sarcasm heavily expanding in his voice.

"You're a big coward," the redhead said as she narrowed her eyes at him, giving him an almost entirely pitying expression.

"I'm in the math club," Brian spoke up to no one in particular, but nobody except Roxy bothered to acknowledge him. She turned her head in the direction of his voice, staying seated perfectly straight as she stared blindly off towards Brian's table. Within just a couple of seconds, the Nerd decided to glance around in the hopes of finding anyone who heard him speak up. A small grin was printed across my sister's face, unaware that Brian shyly formed an even tinier smile in return after his bright blue eyes met her face. He slightly waved, but turned back around in his seat right after. He didn't wait to see if Roxy would wave back, which was great since obviously none of these detainees were aware of her condition.

"Whoa there, Beauty Queen," I finally jumped into the new conversation, which resulted in Claire glancing over her shoulder at me once again. "Let's back up a few steps here, all right? All right. What did you mean when you said that we were _both_ afraid?" I gave the slightest nudge in Bender's direction with my head, but I didn't dare remove my serious eyes from Shermer High School's princess.

For a moment, Claire eyed the ceiling like she was trying to string her response together in her head, but then she met her eyes with mine again. "See, you two are afraid that they won't take you." she explained, vaguely shaking her head at me before she shifted her head back over to Bender and added, "You guys don't belong, so you have to dump all over it."

For a moment, I just stared at her like she was an insane psychopath with a chainsaw; except I was nowhere near afraid of this redheaded bitch. I then scoffed loudly enough for the entire room to hear me, making it sound like I was trying to choke down a mocking laugh. And finally, I threw my arms across my chest and shook my head disapprovingly, mumbling, "Черт невероятно..." under my breath. " _Damn unbelievable_...'

The Criminal, on the other hand, stared off at nobody in particular once again. For the shortest moment, he hesitated, but then he started talking through sort of pursed lips. "Well ... it wouldn't have anything to do with you activities people being _assholes_ , now would it?" He immediately fixed his attention back on the two preps after he said the word ' _assholes_.'

" _Gigantic_ assholes," I corrected Bender with dead seriousness, but all he did was roll his eyes as soon as he heard me speak up.

Claire shot me an annoyed look and watched as I carelessly kicked my feet up onto mine and Roxy's table. "Well, you wouldn't know," she said to me, but then glanced back at Bender as she prissily added, "You don't know any of us." _Now_ she was beginning to sound like Andrew.

"Well, I don't know any lepers either, but I'm not going to run out and join one of their fuckin' clubs." informed Bender.

"Let's watch the mouth, huh?" the Athlete suggested right after the Hoodlum finished his last word. The Princess turned her head, silently eyeing the Jock.

' _This coming from_ _the bitch who just finished cursing at me_.' I thought to myself right away, and I oh-so-desperately wanted to say it out loud, but when I opened my mouth, what ended up coming out was, "I'm pretty damn sure cussin' is the least of our Saturday detention troubles, Jockstrap."

"I'm in the physics club, too." Brian then contributed, cutting off Andrew's chance to possibly shoot me an impatient glare or another stupid comeback.

"Excuse me a sec..." Bender said to the two preps, and then he gazed over towards the Geek, cocking an eyebrow. "What are you babbling about?"

"Well, what I said was, I'm in the math club - uh - the Latin club, and the physics club ... physics club." Brian explained, shyly repeating the final two words in his sentence in case he had mumbled them.

It only took a matter of seconds before another smile swept across Roxy's face. "You're in the physics club?" she asked, her accent suddenly dripping with delight.

I turned my head, meaning to glance at my sister, but for some reason, I couldn't resist staring over at Allison. She was softly tapping the tip of her pen against her sheet of blank paper, examining Roxy with her almond colored eyes. To me, those eyes were actually very interesting; I had no idea how in the hell they were, but they just were.

As soon as the brunette Basket Case first entered the library, I almost instantly noticed that she was wearing the dark, fur-trimmed parka that I had given to her shortly after I discovered it uselessly lying around in my Grandparents' attic. Like most parkas, it was much baggier on her tallish and naturally slim figure, but I had to admit it that it still made her look pretty nice ... even for a Basket Case.

"Yeah," Brian finally found the guts to answer Roxy's simple question, nodding his head slightly. When my eyes managed to jump away from Allison in order to land on him, I realized that he had shifted himself around in his seat so he could keep his attention fully on Roxy as they spoke. Not only that, but a new bright shade of pink had slipped across the Nerd's cheeks, highlighting their whiteness.

"You know, I always thought that physics was fairly interesting." Roxy shared, tapping the eraser of her pencil against the edge of our table.

I shook my head in dissapproval and released a soft noise, making it sound like I was trying to clear some nasty vomit from the middle of my throat. Like I said, out of the two of us, Roxy was the one who had the school spirit. I, on the other hand, couldn't last through a single lesson without getting pissed off by the teacher, another asshole of a classmate, or just by my boredom eating away at me.

The Brain nervously eyed me for a few seconds after I gagged, but then he fixed his attention back on Roxy. "Really?" he asked, his voice that sounded like it was just barely grazed with the smallest amount of puberty giving it away that he was caught off guard.

Roxy gave her head a swift nod and she flashed a pretty grin in Brian's direction, but she didn't say another word.

For a moment, I took the time to boringly stare at the small hole that had eaten its way through the top of my right converse. Nonetheless, it didn't take long before I convinced myself to turn my head back towards the railing so I could see the dark-haired Rebel. He hadn't shifted from where he was sitting, but now he was staring at my sister with his mouth slightly hanging open from what I could tell was shock. In all honesty, I couldn't blame him; Roxy was such a pretty teenage girl, and according to typical teenage logic, pretty girls were _never_ supposed to be interested in anything educational.

It only took a matter of seconds before Bender's eyes dragged back over to Claire, but the same look that he'd shoot Roxy remained glued on his face.

"Hey ... Cherry..." the Criminal leaned forward, waiting until the Princess looked at him before he continued. "Do _you_ belong to the physics club?"

"That's an academic club," Claire pointed out, sounding rather disgusted when she said say the word ' _academic_.'

I witnessed the kind smile vanish from Roxy's face, right before she snapped her head in the direction of the Beauty Queen's spoiled voice.

"So?" Bender dryly asked.

"Yeah, what in the hell does that have to do with anything, Princess?" Roxy then blurted out, clearly not liking what she was hearing. Her silver eyes were still hidden by her specialized sunglasses, but I didn't need to see them to know that she had them bitterly narrowed.

Claire paused the conversation, shooting Roxy a quick glare before she looked back at Bender. "So academic clubs aren't the same as other kinds of clubs." the redhead stated like it was completely obvious, shaking her head a little.

"Ah," Bender said like he just got the actual answer to one of the most difficult questions in the entire world. "But to dorks like them, they are." He pointed one of his fingers at Brian and then at Roxy when he referred to them as dorks. (Of course, Brian actually _was_ a dork though.)

Claire eyed the floor for a split second, but then rolled her eyes as she silently looked away from Bender. At the same time, Roxy just so happened to flick her head in the direction of the Criminal's mocking tone, pursing her lips in an impatient manner.

"What do you guys do in your club?" Bender asked, glancing back over at the Nerd.

Brian quickly and quietly cleared his throat, peeking up at the ceiling. "In physics we - we, uh ..." He then made eye contact with Bender after pausing from his stuttering. "We talk about physics - uh - properties of physics..."

Before Brian could possibly knock the rest of us out into a deep sleep, Bender interrupted. "So it's sort of social..." The Criminal stopped speaking for a split second in order to look at me. "Russian Massacre, what do you think?"

"It's demented and sad, but social." I confirmed, although my eyes were narrowed into thin slits from aggravation towards the nickname Bender labeled me with.

With a small and quick motion towards my table with his arm, Bender gazed back at Claire and said, "Right?"

Despite how the incomplete question was rhetorical, the Princess silently sneered and turned her head away from the Criminal with a roll of her eyes. On the other hand, the desperately unpopular Brain decided to attempt fitting into the conversation by actually answering the question.

"Yeah, well, I guess you could consider us a social situation. Um - I mean, there are other children in my club." Brian shared, clearly trying to not be bothered by the uninterested look that Bender was shooting him. It looked as if the Hoodlum was saying, 'Get to the damn point already.' "And - uh - at the a-at the end of the year, we have - um - we have a b-big banquet up at the - uh - at the Hilton."

As I quirked an eyebrow at Brian's stuttering, a spark of interest suddenly lit up across Bender's eyes.

"You load up? You party?" the Hoodlum asked, motioning with his hand as he spoke.

For a moment, the Nerd glanced away like he was just struck with a lightning bolt of stupidity. "Well, no, we get _dressed_ up. I mean we don't ... we don't get high." Brian explained as he shook his head a tiny bit at Bender.

"Only burners like you and her get high." Claire snidely retorted, glaring at the Rebel as she motioned towards Roxy for a split second with her pencil.

As soon as I heard those words come out of the redhead's mouth, a strictly protective scowl overran my face. "What in the hell did you just say, gingersnap?" I demanded to know, even though I already knew the answer to that question. My eyes were narrowed into thin slits of bitterness as Claire instantly looked over her shoulder at me, glaring right back at me with the strong irritation that she was feeling completely exposed in her eyes.

Nonetheless, just as the Beauty Queen opened her mouth to say something back to me, the Brain decided to start talking again.

"And - uh - I didn't have any shoes, so I had to borrow my Dad's. It was kinda weird 'cause my Mom doesn't like me wearing other peoples shoe's." At the sound of Brian beginning to babble on and on, my eyes jumped away from the Princess and landed on him. "And - uh - my cousil Kent..." Brian closed his eyes in obvious humiliation from his stuttering, but continued to ramble. "My cousin Kendall from Indiana, he got high once. He started, like, really weird foods..."

" _My God_..." I silently lip synced to myself, shaking my head and rolling my eyes in complete aggravation towards the Nerd's rambling. Just then, as I rested my shoulder blades against the back of my chair again, I turned my attention over to Allison and witnessed her place the tip of her pen between her teeth. She bit down on it, keeping it steady in her mouth as she positioned her index finger like it was a handgun, pointing it at the back of the Brain's head before flicking her thumb, which I could tell was the trigger.

She then removed her pen from her mouth, shooting Brian a clearly annoyed scowl before her eyes just so happened to wander over at me. I knew that the tiniest portion of amusement was smeared across my face, slim delight dancing across my eyes as an excessively small and rare grin tugged at the corners of my mouth.

"And - uh - and then he just felt like he didn't belong anywhere..." Brian continued to stammer, an almost entirely translucent shade of red beginning to decorate his cheeks.

" _Kill me_..." I silently mouthed to the Basket Case. Immediately, a small and precious smile that represented a somewhat smug smirk curled up on one of the edges of Allison's lips. Without waiting for another moment to pass by, she positioned the top half of her pen back between her teeth and shot off another imaginary handgun, but this time, she pointed it in my direction.

In return, I smirked widely and soaked in her mistakenly innocent looking grin for a couple of more seconds. Nevertheless, as soon as I glanced back at the Geek, the amusement vanished entirely from my face like it was never there to begin with. The satisfaction drained from my eyes and my smirk fled from my lips, leaving them straightened in annoyance once again.

Andrew had his lips tightly pressed together, the look in his eyes giving it away that he wasn't interested in hearing any of the words that were coming out of Brian's mouth. The Jock dragged his attention away from the Nerd and shook his head impatiently, right before he took a quick glimpse towards the library's entrance. He couldn't have possibly been more evident; he was trying to see if Vernon was getting ready to peek into the room from his office.

"You know, kinda like, you know, like 'Twilight Zone,' kinda." Brian finally decided to end his babbling there. Praise God for that.

Claire released a chuckle, locking her eyes back over on Bender. "Sounds like you," she said, smiling innocently.

"Look, you guys keep up your talking and Vernon's going to come right in here," Andrew warned. While he talked, he hastily glanced around at mainly me, Bender, and Claire. "I got a meet this Saturday and I'm not going to miss it on account of you _boneheads_."

Roxy arched one of her eyebrows in confusion, leaning over and whispering inches away from my shoulder so only I could hear her, "Boneheads? What is he, five?"

Being in Chicago for only almost four months didn't compare to the seventeen years we spent growing up in Russia, so we clearly still had a lot of English words, meanings, pronunciations, and other lessons to work through. Although, just because we were Russian didn't change how Roxy and I just understood when somebody was using certain words as a form of insulting something or somebody else.

A small smirk welded up on one of the corners of my mouth towards Sporto's so-called insult, but I managed to smuggle down my single mocking laugh.

"Oh, and wouldn't that be a bite, huh?" Bender asked through slightly clenched teeth. "Oooaahh!" He swung his arm across his chest, his cry of agony noticeably staged. "Missin' a whole wrestling meet!"

Claire narrowed her eyes and slowly shook her head a single time at the Criminal, as if she was scolding a little kid for acting too childish.

The Athlete narrowed his eyes, placing one of his arms across the surface of his and the Beauty Queen's table, and his other arm across the back of his seat. "Well you wouldn't know anything about it, _faggot_!" Andrew then hissed, leaning slightly in Bender's direction.

Roxy scoffed. "Now who needs to watch their mouth, Sporto?" She placed her elbows against her sheet of paper and rested her chin on top of both of her balled up fists, keeping herself locked in the direction of Andrew's voice.

Nonetheless, the Jock didn't acknowledge her comment, keeping his deep blue eyes on the smirking Rebel.

"You never competed in your whole life." Andrew pointed out.

"Oh, I know!" Bender said in noticeably mocking sorrow, staring down at his lap. If it wasn't for the smile that was printed across his face, he probably would've managed to make the other detainees think that he was actually crying. "And I feel all empty inside of it," the Hoodlum then started gesturing with his arm, his hand curled up in a fist. "I have such a _deep_ admiration for guys who roll around the floor with other guys!" By the end of his sentence, his insulting sarcasm had returned, clinging to each of his words as he went back to staring at the Athlete.

A dark, obviously mocking smirk spread widely across my face. "It's about time you finally admitted it, Bender. You know, the first step of the healing process is _actually_ admitting you have a problem." I made myself sound like I was speaking the way a therapist would speak, which was one hell of a simple task for me of all people to pull off. I even stole the whole 'the first step of the healing process is _actually_ admitting you have a problem' quote from _my_ therapist.

Roxy sunk her lips into her mouth, but she still failed to hide the smile that made its way across her face as soon as I said my previous comment. I could hear her quietly muffling her chuckles, hiding her mouth behind her knuckles as she glanced down at the surface of our table

It only took a couple of seconds before Bender's eyes jumped away from the Athlete and landed on me. I could see the mixture of aggravation, anger, and impatience pieced together on his face, creating the cold glare that he was shooting me. However, just as Bender opened his mouth to say something back to me, the Athlete, who clearly didn't acknowledge what I had said previously, spoke up first.

"Ah, you'd never miss it," he said with so much nonchalance in his voice as he went back to staring blankly ahead at the front of the library. Nevertheless, he couldn't resist peeking back over at the Rebel as he added bluntly, "You don't have any goals."

"Oh, but I do." corrected Bender, who was now advertising a positively mischievous smirk. It was as if he had never been glaring at me; in the blink of an eye, his harsh scowl was replaced with that devious grin.

"Yeah?" Andrew asked with false interest as he glued his eyes back on the darker-haired teen.

"I want to be just - like - you." With every word he sarcastically spoke, Bender pointed a finger insultingly at Sporto. "I figure all I need's a lobotomy and some tights."

I noticed Andrew's face flush, his cheeks becoming redder than two freshly bloomed roses. Without a word, he slightly tightened his jaw, his eyes now almost perfectly resembling two deep blue glass globes.

For a moment, Brian's eyes wandered back and forth from Bender to Andrew. "You wear tights?" the blonde Nerd then asked after his concentration rested fully on the Jock.

Andrew glanced over his shoulder at Brian, turning himself just slightly around in his seat. Somehow, his entire face had managed to become overrun by the exact same shade of bright scarlet in that short cluster of seconds.

"The last time I checked," I spoke up to fill in the silence, "tights were worn by seven-year-old ballerinas. Not seventeen-year-old wrestlers."

Right after I finished the last word in my statement, the Athlete's eyes darted over to me. He narrowed them slightly, which was all I needed to see to understand that he was telling me to knock it the hell off already. In return, I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest, right before I began to carefully rock myself back and forth in my still tilted back chair.

"No, I don't wear tights," Andrew replied after he drew his attention over to Brian. "I wear the required uniform."

"Tights," Brian and Roxy insisted together, but while the Geek sounded more nervous and quiet, my sister was noticeably muffling some more giggles.

Andrew looked away for a split second, pursing his lips in anger. "Shut up!" he exclaimed, taking the time to shoot Roxy and then Brian a hard glare before he turned himself fully back around in his seat.

As a smirk fiddled around with the edges of my mouth, I noticed from the corner of my eye that Allison was just so happening to be glancing in my direction. One of those mistakenly innocence, but somehow lovely smiles were styled across her lips. I could only see part of it since she was hanging her head and her shagged up hair was hiding a majority of her face, but that still didn't stop me from spotting her easily peeking through her bangs at me. After what felt like an eternity past by with me just looking at her, the Basket Case turned her head down some more and began scribbling away at her piece of paper.

Suddenly, a noise erupted softly through the reappearing vacant air of nowhere. It was easy to come to the quick conclusion that it came from the corridor.

Without any hesitation, I swept my feet off from the top of mine and Roxy's table, grasping the sides of my chair as it immediately landed back down on all four of its wooden legs. Concern sparked in my eyes as I watched the Princess slightly lean forward in her seat. At the same time, the Hoodlum shot his concentration over his shoulder, resulting in some of his darker brunette hair vaguely flipping. Roxy had her attention nailed towards the direction of where the noise had come from, but like everyone else, she didn't say a word. Instead, she sat still, her back perfectly straight with her hands folded on top of her right leg, which was crossed properly over the top of her left leg.

Ever so quietly, I rose from my chair and began to cautiously tiptoe in the complete stillness of the library. I could feel the eyes that I just knew belonged to the Beauty Queen, the Jock, and the Geek beginning to follow me as I stayed close to the railing with every silent step I took. My heart was slowly beginning to pick up the pace, resulting in every one of my covered up and hidden scars beginning to feel like they were starting to tingle. Nonetheless, not the tiniest speck of curiosity faded from my vaguely tanned face.

By the time I made it to where I had to get in order to take a risking glance out the library's door, I glanced over my shoulder to see how the other detainees were reacting. The look on Claire's face - the somewhat widened eyes and slightly hanging open mouth - made it look like she just witnessed me shoot some homeless puppy. Andrew, on the other hand, was giving me an impatient glare, which I could tell was his way of saying, 'If you get busted and all of us have to pay for it by Vernon's orders, you're dead meat.' Lastly, considering Roxy didn't know that I left my seat, Allison was still caught up in doodling away at her piece of paper, and Bender didn't remove his attention away from the library's entrance himself, Brian was staring at me in utter confusion like some unbelievably dumb kid.

Finally, I drew my attention away from the other detention goers and rested my eyes on the corridor, daring myself to sneak a peek. When I did, I saw Vernon with his back towards the library, looking like he was getting ready to moon somebody as he leaned himself over to jam something into his office trashcan. Though, before he did, I managed to notice that the item that he was throwing away was the entire core that belonged to none other than a piece of fruit.

I narrowed my eyes and grumbled under my breath, "That bitch ate my apple."

Then, when Dick began to straighten himself back up, it came to my realization that he just might be getting ready to come back into the library. Without any hesitation, I muttered a quick "дерьмо!" under my breath and shot myself back around, trotting back to my seat as fast as I could without producing much sound. ' _Shit_ _!_ ' "I think Dick's about to come back!" I informed the rest of the detainees as I hurriedly pulled my seat back out and plopped myself down. Luckily, Roxy had already placed her miniature bag of barbeque chips underneath her leg again as soon as we each overheard the noise.

That was all Bender needed to hear to have him leap off the railing and sprint to the empty seat that rested between Andrew and Claire. As the silence continued expanding throughout the whole library, the Rebel pulled out the chair and sat down, scooting himself in before folding his hands on top of the table in front of him. The picture of pure and perfect innocence.

I rolled my eyes at his act, but didn't say a word in case Mr. Vernon was beginning to enter the room. The quietness went on for a couple of more seconds, and I continued to eye the direction of the library's door, just waiting while I listened to every beat my heart made in my strong chest. Sparkles of confusion began to twinkle across my eyes as I slowly examined around the room, noticing that all of the other detention goers, minus Allison, were staring off towards the library's entrance.

Only a few more seconds of complete stillness managed to pass by before none other than John Bender ended it. He glanced at the Athlete, releasing a noise that sounded like he was trying to clear his throat. After that, he turned his head towards the Princess as he scooted himself back and cawed out, "Whoo!"

I cocked an eyebrow and watched as Bender stood up from his chair, beginning to approach the door.

"There's - uh - not supposed to be any monkey business." Brian reminded, the tone of his voice drenched in nervousness.

Turning himself around, the dark-haired Hoodlum cocked an eyebrow at the Nerd and pointed a finger at him as he continued to walk backwards. "Young man, have you finished your paper?" Bender asked, noticeably staging his very own and personal impression of Vernon. It was then Roxy's turn to arch one of her eyebrows as she stared blindly in the direction of his voice, but nobody said another word as Bender continued to approach the library's door.

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter complete! :) :D :)**

 **I would like to apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter out, but I've currently been caught up in attending Graduation parties, preparing myself for my junior year in high school, and I just got back from my week-long vacation about two-to-three weeks ago. Either way, I had a blast writing this chapter for each and every one of you! :) :) I can't wait to get started on the next one! :D :D**

 **I hope you all enjoyed it! :) :D :D :) Please remember that my goal is at least four reviews per chapter! I appreciate each and every one of your comments! :) :) :D :D Please review!**

 **AND REMEMBER: Like I said before, I start school again on August 19th, so my stories will take more time to work on due to homework, studying, projects, etc. Nonetheless, I'm _not_ going to give up on my writing, so don't worry about that at all. :)**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter, everyone! See you all there! :D :D :) :) :) :D :D**

 **THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER! **


	4. Give Me That Screw

**A/N: Hey, everyone! :) It's time for another update! :D**

 **Before the chapter begins, I would like to thank Childhood Enigma and HamJam for taking their time to review my previous chapter! It definitely brightened up my evening! Thank you guys very much for sending me such fantastic words! I very much appreciate it! :D :) **

**Not only that, but another thanks goes out to ShadowPegasus007, who added this story to their favorites and follows! :D Also, thanks Emerald Monkey and jessofitz for adding this story to your follows! Thank you all so very much! :)**

 **WARNING: Comrade's nightmare (the entire italic scene) is a bit freaky in the beginning and it's dark.**

 **Remember, I really do admire receiving reviews. I appreciate each and every one of them! :) :) My goal still stands on getting at least four reviews every chapter, so please review. Thanks! :D**

 **I also really want to take the time to thank everyone else who has already added this story to their favorites and follows! :D Thank you all _SO_ much! Not only that, but I want to thank everybody who is reading this story. :) I thank you all very much. :) **

**Now, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Please review! :) Happy reading, everybody! :) :D :D :)**

* * *

 _Comrade's POV_

I drummed my fingertips against the surface of mine and Roxy's table, watching in strong suspicion as the Criminal stealthily flipped his denim collar up. Right after he did so, he cautiously poked his head out the library's entrance, scanning down both sides of the vacant corridor. Other than the slight sound of Bender's suspending chain jingling on the side of each of his movements, the entire room was full of total silence.

Roxy leaned over towards me, whispering inches away from my shoulder so only I would be able to hear her, "What in the hell is that Сукин сын doing?" ' _Son of a bitch_.'

"He's..." I began to respond in a hushed voice, but before I could get another word out, I saw Bender reach up and begin to fiddle around with hinges at the top of the library's door. It didn't take much effort for me to understand what he was doing, considering he has tried to do the same thing in a couple of previous Saturday detentions. Though, he never did manage to get away with it. With a roll of my eyes, I released a soft groan of complete aggravation and whispered back to my sister through somewhat clenched teeth, "He's removing the damn screws from the damn door."

For a moment, Roxy's mouth dropped open in shock. I thought that she was going to say something else, and for a split second, it really looked like she was about to. Nonetheless, I was proven wrong when my sister forced herself to clamp her mouth shut, exposing how she was slightly clenching her teeth together before she pressed her lips together in an impatient manner for the hundredth time. It came to my realization then that she was angrily tightening her jaw as slowly as possible like she was trying to convince herself to not become physically harmful towards anyone.

"Come on, Bender, don't screw around." Andrew ordered from his chair, a serious scowl printed across his face.

As my attention jumped over to the back of the Jock's head, one of my eyebrows now quirked from wondering why he decided to word his useless command like that, Roxy didn't think twice before allowing a sudden smile to mold across her lips, right before she swiftly untightened her jaw and let out a single laugh. At the same time, my eyes leaped back over to Bender, and I witnessed him pull out one of the screws from the old, but somehow still doable, hinges.

"Wow, Sporto, that was a very clever choice of words you picked out there." Roxy informed through her small leftover snickers, but Andrew didn't bother to pay attention to her.

"What are you going to do?" the Princess asked, sounding briefly uneasy with strong curiousness gleaming in her eyes.

The Athlete gave her a small flick of his attention, heartlessly growling out, "Drop dead, I hope." After that, he glanced back over at the Rebel, continuing to coldly glare.

Without removing my attention from Bender, watching as he removed another screw from the hinges, I slightly raised my left arm into the air. "I'll do the honors of finding a shovel and burying his ass in some unidentified area." I said with no specific type of emotion in my accent whatsoever, but only Roxy and Brian bothered to pay attention to my comment.

My sister sunk her still smiling lips into her mouth, trying her absolute hardest to soften the new boatload of chuckles that were already leaking out of her. The Nerd, on the other hand, glanced over at me with utter confusion glazed across his bright blue eyes. He slightly cocked an eyebrow, his lips squished together and forming a slightly quivering straight line as he blinked a few times, as if he just witnessed me slam into a damn walk after trying to mindlessly walk through it. Though, Brian's attention immediately jumped back over to the Criminal when the other dark-haired teen successfully removed the third screw from the hinges.

"Bender, that's - that's school property there," Brian pointed out, clearly trying his hardest not to stutter. "That's - you know, it doesn't belong to us. It's something not to be toyed with."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, vaguely massaging it with the pads of my thumb and forefinger as I aggravatingly grumbled under my breath, "Боже мой, как он будучи чертовски серьезно сейчас?" ' _My God, is he being damn serious right now?_ ' Then, as soon as I sharply snapped my attention in the direction of the Geek's unpopular table just a couple of seconds later, I didn't think twice before blurting out, "Do you honestly think that he gives a flying shit?"

A pastel shade of pink smeared across Brian's cheeks, forcing them to stand out from the rest of his pale face as he forced himself to stare back over at me. I could see the mixture of shyness and sharply increased apprehension that was completely etched across his face as he silently shook his head in response to my rhetorical question.

"Yeah, I didn't think so either." I said dryly, but I wasn't entirely sure if Brian heard me since by the time I got to the word 'think,' the sound of the door slamming shut echoed across the library. Just as I immediately fixed my eyes back over on Bender, I noticed him beginning to casually stroll away from the now closed entrance like he hadn't been involved with it.

Andrew's scowl became more brutal in the blink of an eye. At the same time, Claire's mouth dropped open, her Hershey colored eyes overflowing with shock as they followed the Criminal.

"That's very funny, come on, fix it!" Andrew sharply ordered as he and the Princess watched Bender race past their front table. Without waiting, the two preppies spun themselves around in their seats, keeping their eyes on Bender as he dropped one ... two ... three ... okay, the _four_ screws that he removed from the hinges on mine and Roxy's table. A small _clink_ noise briefly filled the air after each of the slightly rusty looking screws landed against the table's smooth surface.

"I'm going to need you to keep a close eye on these, okay, Russian Massacre?" Bender asked, the evident sarcasm in his voice thickly knitted into each of his words.

I narrowed my eyes into thin slits of bitterness at him, leaning back so my shoulder blades lined up with the back of my chair. "Bender, if you really want to hide those damn screws, then you might as well go ahead and shove 'em up your ass for all I care." I sneered in complete seriousness.

"Wow, very touché," Bender rolled his eyes, clearly unbothered by my brutally honest comment as he then turned his head over towards Roxy. "What about you, Russian Queen? Would you like to watch over these screws for me?"

My fists were currently balled up and stuffed into my leather jacket's pockets, but that didn't stop me from clenching them a little harder. I was squeezing them so hard that I was beginning to wonder whether or not my knuckles were as white as snow and getting themselves prepared to pop at any moment. In all honesty, I didn't know what I pissed me off more: (A) Bender was still finding ways and different moments to communicate with my sister, or (B) the Hoodlum asked if she could _watch over_ the freaking screws. Out of the dozens of ways that he could've worded that question, he just had to pick words that related to having vision.

I could tell that Roxy also must've noticed his particular wording too, because her cheeks were now drowning in an almost entirely transparent crimson shade. She was staring in the exact direction of Bender's voice, taking a moment to press her lips together in a certain manner that I could tell meant that she was desperately biting back on a swarm of cuss words.

"Not really, but I will." Roxy then growled.

At the sound of her accent in her mumbling response, a smug smirk curled up on the edges of the Rebel's mouth. I could see the satisfaction madly glittering in his deep brown eyes as he then took the opportunity to send my sister a wink, but before I could open my mouth to tell him to back the hell off, Bender quickly turned away.

I rolled my eyes, silently mouthing a couple of curse words through my slightly clenched teeth. Nonetheless, I immediately clamped myself up when Roxy whispered to me, "Товарищ, дай мне эти чертовы болты." ' _Comrade, hand me the damn screws._ ' By the clearly annoyed tone by her voice, I could tell that she must have just finished rolling her silver eyes behind her excessively dark sunglasses.

I obliged without a word and slid the four screws over the edge of the table, where they landed perfectly in my other hand's open palm. "вот," I quietly said as I then handed the screws over to Roxy's already wide open and waiting hand. ' _Here._ ' My sister meekly nodded, which I knew was her silent way of saying thanks, and she curled her vaguely tan fingers over the stolen "possessions." After that, she unzipped one of the horizontal pockets on her black leather vest, dropped the screws in, and then zipped her pocket back up. A successful hiding spot.

"You should really fix that," Brian spoke up, but nobody at all paid him any attention this time.

"Am I a genius?" the Delinquent asked from where he was now sitting back in his original seat, his hands folded on top of the table once again.

"No, you're an asshole!" snapped the Jock, just as the Beauty Queen quickly turned herself back around in her seat and stared at the library's entrance with her stunned look still plastered on her face.

"What a funny guy!" Bender sarcastically laughed as he shot Andrew an entirely mocking expression.

Roxy shook her head a little, letting out a small groan before she said, "Can't you all just shut the hell up?" Nonetheless, I seemed to have been the only one who acknowledged her.

Andrew's entire face was now beating redder than a flame of fire. "Fix the door, Bender!" he ordered, growing angrier by the minute.

"Shh! Everyone just shh!" Bender exclaimed as he motioned around with his hands. "Look, I've been here before. I know what I'm doing."

As soon as I heard him say that, I couldn't resist tightening my jaw, shooting vicious and cold eyes at the back of his head. "I've been here before too, but you don't see me yanking any screws out of any damn hinges!" I bellowed.

Bender shot his attention over his shoulder and glared sternly at me. "Well, if you actually paid attention to what I just said, Russian Massacre, you would know that unlike you, I actually know what I'm doing in here! Shh!"

Roxy was now mumbling many insults in Russian under her breath as she vaguely massaged the sides of her head with her fingertips.

"No!" wailed the Athlete, who was noticeably far past being pissed by this point. "Fix the door! Get up there and-"

"Shh! Shh!" the Criminal attempted shushing Andrew, but when the Jock continued to aggravatingly bicker, Bender had enough and furiously screamed out, "SHUT UP!"

Brian's mouth was hanging open as he stared uneasily in the direction of Bender's table, looking like he was debating whether or not he should say anything to attempt calming down the entire scene. Nonetheless, it only took a couple of seconds in the new cloud of silence before everyone's attention jumped over to the library's entrance. From right outside the door, the loud and clearly furious sound of Dick's voice erupted out, "God dammit!"

Without any hesitation, my sister flung her hands away from the sides of her head and neatly folded them back on top of her right knee. At the same time, the Jock swirled himself back around in his seat, attempting to look as natural as possible as the door flew open. Vernon entered the room, an icy look of pure hatred imprinted on his briefly reddened face. Behind him, the door slammed shut.

The Principal sharply pointed towards the entrance. "Why is that door closed?" he demanded to know as he approached the front table that was occupied by the two preps. His tall and somewhat slender figure towered over them both, but he kept his cruel eyes locked on the Athlete. (Dick looks like he gained at least five-to-seven pounds. See, I've attended so many damn detentions that I am beginning to notice the tiniest changes in that pain in the ass.)

Andrew was trying to avoid making eye contact with Vernon as much as he could without giving it away that he, along with the rest of us did, really did know why the door was now closed.

When all Vernon received was silence in response to his question, he enhanced the venom and warning in his voice as he repeated himself. "Why is that door closed?!" He continued pointing in the direction of the library's entrance.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Roxy taking her time to straighten herself back up so her back was perfectly lined up against the back of her chair. She was breathing steadily, obviously trying to not gain over Dick's attention with a straight and simple expression glued across her face.

"How are we supposed to know?" Bender asked as he continued to look at his innocently folded hands. "We're not supposed to move, right?"

The Principal eyed him coldly, but then his eyes drew over to the Diva. "Why?!" Vernon asked, still pointing.

Claire jumped a little, realizing that she was the one who was being put on the spot. Her eyes widened as her mouth fell open. For a few moments, Shitty Shermer's dear Princess had to search for her voice.

"We were just sitting here, like we're supposed to..." Claire said, finishing her sentence with a tiny shrug. That immediately won over my attention. I stared at the back of Claire's head for about three split seconds before I slowly shook my head and rolled my eyes in disbelief, as if I was saying, "You _can't_ be freakin' serious." Absolutely no words could possibly describe how unconvincing the Diva sounded, courtesy of her small pause before she spoke and then the actual sound of her voice.

Nevertheless, Mr. Vernon must've actually taken her answer into consideration. He finally lowered his arm, staring at Claire like a sick pedophile for a few more moments before he moved so he was now standing a slightly fair distance beside Andrew instead of in front of him. Vernon then took the time to shoot Allison a dark glare before he fixed his concentration on Brian.

"Who closed that door?" Dick asked as he motioned towards the closed door again.

The Nerd's eyes looked like they were getting ready to pop clear out of their sockets from expanding so much. Not only that, but his entire face looked like it was drowning in a bright pool of scarlet.

"I think a screw fell out of it." Bender decided to speak up when Brian failed to say anything.

"It just closed, sir." Andrew mumbled without removing his attention from the front of the library.

I couldn't help but catch a glimpse of the small, smug smirk that was lightly playing around with one of the corners of Bender's lips. However, he hid it from the Principal's view by glancing down a little more at his folded up hands again.

"Who?!" bellowed Vernon, now directing his aggravating bitchiness towards the Basket Case, but nobody except Roxy, Bender, and I seemed to acknowledge it.

Allison's mouth dropped open, and she released a squeak that sounded like it belonged to a yelping chipmunk. Then, after she reclosed her mouth, she flung her head down onto her table, which resulted in the fur-trimmed hood of her dark parka covering her head. After that, another squeak escaped from the Basket Case's mouth.

An unbelievably rare grin poked around the corners of my mouth. I actually had to bite down on my bottom lip to prevent myself from releasing any snickers. For some reason that even I couldn't determine, I found it very entertaining and sort of, I guess, childishly cute when Allison kept herself quiet like that and used rodent like noises to communicate with others.

"She doesn't talk, sir." Roxy informed Mr. Vernon, her accent soft, but at the same time, it was heavily bathed in absolute seriousness.

Just then, as the Basket Case let out another squeak just to prove my sister's point, Vernon's eyes flickered over to Roxy. Without any hesitation, the tiny smile faded from my face as I watched Dick begin to approach mine and Roxy's table, looking almost exactly like he was secretly walking with a wedgie. I narrowed my eyes, my veins feeling like they were beginning to grow intensely hot from the strong protection I had for my sister beginning to leak into every drop of my blood. When Vernon stopped walking so he was standing directly beside Roxy's seat, he took a moment to exchange scowls with me before he locked his attention back on her.

"Did you close that door, missy?" Vernon asked, the tone of his voice growing more solid with every passing second. Yet again, he extended his arm out and pointed towards the library's entrance.

Roxy was already looking exactly in his direction, considering she had perfectly followed the sound of his squeaky shoes when he was previously approaching our back table.

"I can assure you, sir," Roxy said as she meekly shook her head, "none of us had anything to do with the door closing. Actually, we..." I turned my head fully in her direction and watched as she pointed her thumb at me and then at herself before she continued to talk. "We were in the middle of thinking about why we are here today and we were trying to figure out how to begin constructing our essays when the door just closed out of nowhere."

Vernon raised his eyebrows, taking a moment to digest everything my sister just said to him. After that, as he lowered his arm back down to his side, his heartless eyes slid back over to me. Immediately, we engaged in another one of our famous Saturday detention glaring contests. Despite how Vernon didn't say a word to me, that didn't stop me from gradually letting out a growl that sounded like it belonged to a viciously snarling junkyard dog.

Dick ended up breaking our glaring contest in order to look back over at the Rebel, who was still eyeing his folded up hands.

My electric blue eyes stuck to the Principal like everlasting glue, watching as he began heading towards Bender's table. By now, I could tell that he must've been so impatient to the point where people just had to invent a new word to describe how aggravated me was.

Just then, from the corner of my eye, I saw one of the corners of Roxy's lips quirk up into a half smirk. "Sucker..." she muttered, obviously referring to Mr. Vernon as she successfully muffled some mocking snickers under her breath. I didn't need her to remove her extremely dark sunglasses to know that the mistaken innocence that was previously in her eyes had completely transformed into positive deviousness. If there was one main skill that Roxy and I both possessed, it was the ability of almost always getting away with acting like we were absolutely innocent when we were actually being mischievous.

"Give me that screw..." Vernon growled from where he was now standing inches away from the Criminal's seat.

"I don't have it..." Bender shook his head a little, not making eye contact with Dick.

"You want me to yank you out of that seat and shake it outta ya?"

"I don't have it. Screws fall out all the time," Bender explained as he motioned around with his head a little. "The world's an imperfect place." He then peeked up at the Principal, who was now beating so red in the face that I was beginning to wonder if his head was going to explode, but then the Rebel glanced back down at his table.

"Give it to me, Bender..." snarled Dick.

' _Okay, I can't possibly be the only one who got a dirty image implanted in my brain from that.'_ I thought to myself with my eyes now widened like two gigantic glass globes. And sure enough, when I peeked over towards Roxy, I noticed her biting down on her bottom lip and currently battling with one of those wide and irreplaceable smiles of hers that were noticeably attempting to slip across her face.

Claire turned herself slightly around in her chair. "Excuse me, sir? Why would anybody want to steal a screw?"

I arched my eyebrows. "Maybe to horde it into their screw collection?" I suddenly contributed, not even bothering to disguise the sarcasm that was thickly wrapped around my accent.

Mr. Vernon snapped his attention back over to me almost instantly, still coldly scowling. "Watch it, you two..." he hissed as he then looked over towards the Princess, pointing a finger at her warningly before he did the same to me.

I carelessly rolled my eyes, muttering "сука..." under my breath. ' _Bitch..._ ' At the same time, I managed to catch the small scowl that Claire sent in Bender's direction.

As the entire room fell silent once again, Allison grabbed the corner of her hood and lifted it up so she could peek out, her dark bangs still suspending in front of her face. Everyone's eyes followed Mr. Vernon as he approached the door and pushed it open, the look on his face giving it away that he was clearly trying to think of a way as to how he could get it to stay open again.

Just then, after a couple of seconds managed to slip by quietly, Roxy leaned over in her chair a little and whispered nanometers away from my shoulder, "Что происходит сейчас?" ' _What's happening now?_ '

I refused to take my eyes away from Vernon as I softly replied with, "Вернон пытаясь исправить глупую дверь." ' _Vernon is trying to fix the stupid door._ '

Dick grabbed a folding metal chair that was abandoned close to the corner of the room and dragged it across the floor, making sure that he was still holding open the door with his other hand.

"The door's _way_ to heavy, sir." Bender pointed out, but wasn't acknowledged as the Principal lined the tiny chair up against the much larger door. The smallest dash of confidence sparked across Vernon's dull face as he released the door to place his hands on his hips, but the satisfaction didn't last long. In the blink of an eye, the library's entrance became shut up again, the door releasing a loud _CRASH_ sound in Dick's face as it slammed shut.

Immediately, I bit down on the inside of my left cheek to help suppress my incredibly rare laughter. At the same time, Roxy and Brian didn't wait to break out into grins, but while the Nerd hid his smile behind his knuckles, my sister allowed her much wider grin to be advertised for the whole room to take in. As for the Princess and the Athlete, they were noticeably in the middle of wrestling with their own smiles, refusing to allow them to take over their faces. Allison, on the other hand, allowed her mouth to drop open in what looked like shock. And finally, I didn't need to see Bender's face to know that he must've been smirking triumphantly.

"DAMMIT!" Vernon screamed furiously, followed by what sounded like him kicking the metal chair across the hall. As the Principal then walked back into library after throwing his little tantrum, he stared around at each of the detention goers, peeked over towards the door, and then back at all of us. "Andrew Clarke!" Vernon then snapped his fingers as the Athlete turned his head towards the library's entrance. "Get up here. Come on, front and center. Let's go." As Dick continued to snap his fingers a couple of more times, Andrew released a silent and a clearly irritated huff, vaguely shaking his head before he rose from his seat.

Bender's mouth dropped open in staged shock. "Hey, how come Andrew gets to get up?" By this point, Andrew had reached the magazine rack and he was starting to assist Mr. Vernon in lifting it. "If he gets up, we'll all get up! It'll be anarchy!" Bender raised his voice as he gestured around with his arms madly, which had already begun to get on my last nerves.

Roxy flicked her eyebrows up, turning her head in the direction of the Criminal's voice. "Anarchy can be an excellent healing process for the soul." She noted, but there was sarcasm tightly clinging to each of her words.

Nonetheless, I still scoffed, continuing to keep my electric blue eyes on Andrew and Mr. Vernon as I mumbled under my breath, "Only if you're a bitch."

As the Jock started attempting to wiggle his end of the heavy looking rack through the library's entrance, the Principal quickly leaned over to adjust one of the dozens of old magazines. "Okay, watch - watch the magazines." Vernon warned, the sound of his voice giving it away that he desperately sucked at lifting sturdy objects.

"It's out of my hands." Bender concluded, holding his hands up to his shoulders without giving my sister or I the slightest bit of acknowledgement.

The magazine rack now rested between the door and its frame. However, as much as it did manage to keep the door wide open, it just so happened to block off the main entrance and exit to the library.

Mr. Vernon held the rack in place as Andrew, who was clearly ignoring the entertained smile that was playing around on the redhead's plumpish lips, tried to climb over the new obstacle in order to get back into detention. Unfortunately for the Athlete, he ended up slipping on one of the magazines and tripping, which resulted in his leg slamming against the doorframe. Vernon attempted grabbing Andrew's hand to pull him over the rack, but Andrew shook his hand away from the Principal's grip and wiggled back over into the hallway.

I couldn't help but puff my cheeks out for a few seconds in order to contain my laughter. The chuckles pounded against the inside of my chest, but gradually decreased as my cheeks deflated and I quietly drew in a deep breath. An excessively rare grin was now smeared across my lips.

"That's very clever, sir," Bender said, just as Dick rolled his eyes impatiently at Andrew and placed his hands on his hips. "But what if there's a fire? I think violating fire codes and endangering the lives of children would be unwise at this junction of your career, sir." Immediately, my smile vanished when the Criminal glanced over his shoulder at Roxy and I, right before he then looked over at the Basket Case and the Brain when he brought up the word ' _children_.' I rolled my eyes, but Bender didn't notice; he had already fixed his attention back over on Vernon.

The Principal took a moment to think about Bender's point before turning back to Andrew. "All right. What are you doing with this? What are you doing?" Vernon snapped his fingers again, a slightly puzzled expression now plastered on the Jock's face. "Get this out of here for God's sake. What's the matter with you? Come on!" The two of them then engaged in moving the rack back to its usual spot, unaware of the small smirk that Bender was now flashing his table.

Roxy crossed her arms over her chest, pursing her lips in an annoyed manner. "Damn, that мудак needs to learn some manners." She muttered under her breath, but I could still hear her, and I knew that she was referring to Vernon. ' _Asshole._ '

I opened my mouth to agree, but before I could get a word out, Brian spoke up. "Well, you know the school comes equipped with fire exits at either end of the library." He motioned towards the ceiling with four of his fingers, pointing out where these emergency exits were located.

Bender snapped his attention over to the Nerd, shooting him a sharp scowl. "Show Dick some respect!" the Rebel growled, the sound of the door slamming shut influencing his warning slightly.

"Let's go," Vernon ordered as he began escorting Andrew back to his seat. At first, he only pointed towards the Athlete's chair, but then Mr. Pain in the Ass Dick actually _shoved_ Andrew in the back. "Go. Get back in your seat." Mr. Vernon was so caught up in viciously watching the Jock that he didn't notice the Geek peek back towards mine and Roxy's table. I could tell that he was only trying to see how my sister was reacting to the Principal's bitchiness, but it didn't take long before his bright blue eyes darted over to me. In return, I warningly narrowed my eyes and flicked Brian the bird. And that was all it took to have him quickly look away.

As Andrew seated himself back in his chair, Vernon took a cautious scan around the room, an aggravated glare printed across his face. Luckily, the fact that I had just lowered my middle finger went unnoticed since the Jock almost instantly regained Dick's attention.

"I expected a little more from a varsity letterman," Mr. Vernon said. Until then, Andrew had been avoiding eye contact, obviously trying to hide his embarrassment; but when the Athlete didn't say anything, Vernon's heartless eyes skipped over to the Criminal. "You're not fooling anyone, Bender."

One of the edges of my lips twitched upward, forming a tiny and smug smirk when I witnessed Andrew sneakily flick Vernon off when he was pretending to fold his hands.

"The next screw that falls out is gonna be you or Mr. Alexandrov."

Without any hesitation, my eyes expanded to the point where they felt like they were about to bulge out of my skull after getting caught off guard like that. Although, I could tell that my true anger was exposed from the impatience that was intensely glowing in my eyes like over a million of heavily guarded jewels. What in the hell did I do to deserve getting tacked onto the end of that warning?!

Bender, on the other hand, looked unfazed. His attention remained nailed on his table as he leaned himself back in his chair, but as he did so, he mumbled under his breath, "Eat my shorts." However, he wasn't quiet enough.

"What was that?" Mr. Vernon asked as he began approaching the Hoodlum's table, his hands slipped into the back pockets of his ridiculous looking pants.

Bender's eyes flickered towards the Principal. The annoyance that were glistening in them was absolutely evident. For a couple of seconds, Bender remained quiet in order to rest his right arm along the back of his chair, but then he repeated his three words.

"Eat. My. Shorts."

Immediately, Roxy bit down on her thumbnail and released a single snicker that she had noticeably managed to soften so only I could hear it.

' _Damn, this dumbass must have a bad habit of pointing too much._ ' I couldn't help but think to myself as I watched Vernon point a finger at Bender.

"You just bought yourself another Saturday, mister."

"Oh," the Delinquent huffed sarcastically, rolling his eyes away from the Principal. "I'm crushed..."

Dick narrowed his eyes a bit. "You just bought one more right there."

"Well, I'm free the Saturday after that!" Bender carelessly exclaimed, and then he shifted himself so he was leaning forward in his seat. "Beyond that, I'm gonna have to check my calendar."

"Good! 'Cause it's gonna be filled! We'll keep going..." Vernon watched the dark-haired teen seep back against the back of his chair again. "You want another one?"

Bender refused to say anything back, his aggravation obviously increasing as he glanced away from the far older man.

"Say the word! Just say the word!" demanded Mr. Vernon. "Instead of going to prison with Mr. Alexandrov, you'll come here!"

At the mention of me, I noticed Roxy tighten her jaw from the corner of my eye. "Ой, черт возьми, нет..." she quietly mumbled, but when she started to prepare herself to stand up, I placed my hand on top of her balled up fist and gave it a reassuring squeeze. ' _Oh, hell no..._ ' As much as I hated to admit it, I was glad that she couldn't see the bright crimson shade that had splattered across my face due to my anger. Reluctantly, my sister uncurled her fingers, no longer holding them together in the tight fist.

The Rebel crossed his arms over his chest, but the stern silence was broken when Vernon pointed at him again and said, "Are you through?"

"No." Bender replied like he couldn't possibly care less.

"I'm doing society a favor!"

"So?"

"That's another one, right now! I've got you for the rest of your natural born life if you don't watch your step!" Dick flicked his eyebrows up in dead seriousness. "You want another one?"

Bender hesitated for the few smallest seconds before he spat out, "Yes!"

"You got it! You got another one right there!" Vernon bellowed at the top of his lungs, ignoring how Bender looked away from him again. "That's another one, pal!"

Not being able to help myself, I opened my mouth and proclaimed, "Джон, drop it already!" ' _John._ ' At the same exact time, Claire exclaimed, "Cut it out!" from where she was watching the Criminal with somewhat wide eyes over her shoulder. At first, Bender looked over his shoulder, his deep brown eyes racing back and forth from me to Roxy a couple of times. Then, after he turned back around in his seat and glanced at Claire, she mouthed 'Stop' with an almost entirely pleading look pieced together on her face.

"You through?" Dick asked, regaining Bender's attention in less than a second.

The venom enhanced incredibly in the Rebel's tone as he replied with, "Not. Even. Close. _Bud_."

My sister started rubbing the sides of her head with his fingertips, grumbling one string of Russian curse words after the next. I, on the other hand, rolled my eyes and vaguely shook my head, referring to Bender as I quietly growled, "He is being such an unbelievable dumbass right now..."

"Good! You got one more right there!" assigned the Principal, the scowl on his face gradually becoming redder.

Bender narrowed his eyes some. "Do you really think I give a shit?"

"Another!" Mr. Vernon barked, but when all he received from the Hoodlum that time was silence and a slim glare, he continued. "You through?"

"How many is that?"

As I jammed my fists back into the comfortable pockets of my leather jacket, I flipped my brunette hair back and flatly mumbled through somewhat clenched teeth, "Seven..."

Then with only a split second left to spare, Brian spoke up. "That's seven including when we first came in here and you asked Mr. Vernon here whether Barry Manilow knew that he raided his closet." The entire time he talked, his attention wouldn't stop jumping back and forth from Bender to Dick.

"Now it's eight." Vernon instructed, right before he snapped his head in the Nerd's direction, pointing at him. "You stay out of it!"

"Excuse me, sir, it's seven." Brian corrected. As if they were evidence, he held up seven of his fingers, innocently blinking.

"Shut up, Peewee!"

The Geek folded his hands together in defeat, nodding slightly as he mouthed what looked like "Yeah" and he glanced away.

As the Principal fixed his eyes back on the Criminal, he held up his index and pinky fingers. A small, triumph smirk was fiddling around with one of the corners of his lips as he started heading towards the front of the library again, but he refused to take his attention away from Bender.

"You're mine, Bender. For two months I gotcha ... I gotcha." He turned his hand the other way around, still keeping his two specific fingers flicked up in the air. "And, Mr. Alexandrov, don't think that I forgot about those eight weeks that your ass will be serving. I'm also keeping my promise in contacting your grandmother."

I tightened my jaw a little, but stayed leaning against the back of my chair. "Hey, just look on the bright side, Richard ... you actually have somebody to call who isn't wasting their lives away in a fast food joint and the highlight of their evening is delivering you food."

"Do you want me to make it _nine_ weeks, Mr. Alexandrov? 'Cause I sure as hell will!" Mr. Vernon waited to see if I would respond, but when I only rolled my eyes, he turned back to Bender once again. "I got you for two months and I got Mr. Alexandrov for eight weeks ... I gotcha both."

There was a pause in the entire conversation as Bender turned his head away so he wouldn't have to look at anyone. "What can I say?" he spat after glancing back over at Dick. "I'm thrilled!"

"I can already feel the damn excitement charging through every single vein in my body." I sneered, my accent soaked in aggravated sarcasm.

"Oh, I'm sure that's _exactly_ what you want these people to believe!" Vernon pointed his forefinger at Bender, and then at me. "You know something, you two? You both ought to spend a little more time trying to do something with yourselves and a little less time trying to impress people."

The Delinquent glanced away from everyone again, slightly nodding his head like he was actually considering Mr. Pain in the Ass Dick's statement. As for me, I clenched my teeth behind my straightened lips and carelessly shot the Principal a murderous glare.

Roxy glanced down at her lap and caught her bottom lip between her teeth, beginning to chew at it in what I could tell was guilt. She must have finally came to the conclusion that even though she could possibly mouth off at Mr. Vernon, she wouldn't be able to get him off my case no matter what.

"You both might be better off," Vernon stated as he looked directly at me, but pointed at Bender. "All right, _that's it_! I'm going to be right outside those doors!" Again, he motioned towards the library's main entrance. "The next time I have to come in here, I'm cracking skulls!"

At the Principal's three final words, Bender and I mouthed along in a mixture of mock and anger.

The room grew silent, everyone taking in the glare that was printed on Mr. Vernon's face before he turned away and began approaching the door. By this point, Allison slowly began to raise her head back up from her table. As she took her time to remove her hood from her head, she peeked over at me with a slightly shocked expression smeared across her face. Nonetheless, the shock immediately faded and transformed into a small, but very protective scowl as she glued her almond colored eyes over on Vernon's back.

After Vernon reached the door and pushed it open, he turned back around and raised his pointer and pinky fingers again for the entire detention to see. Then, as he allowed the door to close with a loud _SLAM_ , Bender shouted in absolute fury at the top of his lungs, "FUCK YOU!"

* * *

I had been caught up in tapping my fingertips against the table and blankly staring at my piece of paper for what felt like an eternity. Unfortunately, when I twisted myself around in my chair to see the gigantic clock that hung in the further back of the library, it came to my realization that it was only 7:45. Surprisingly, the entire room had managed to remain absolutely silent for those whole two minutes that had slowly slipped by ever since Dick left.

I rolled my eyes, taking in how there was still over eight hours remaining for my sister and I to be trapped in this shit hole. As I spun myself back around in my seat, grumbling many unspeakable words in Russian under my breath, I couldn't help but immediately notice Roxy. She had her arms lying across each other, making the shape of an 'X' on top of our table. Her forehead was also resting against the top of her right forearm, hiding her dark sunglasses and entire face from view.

"Roxy?" Concern heavily coated my eyes as I gently placed my hand between her shoulder blades. "Are you okay?"

She quietly drew in a deep breath through her nostrils and released it through her mouth. "Yeah, I'm fine, Comrade ... I'm just tired..." A small yawn escaped from her mouth, but she continued to talk. "I didn't really get much sleep last night..."

I bit down on my bottom lip, feeling the corners of my mouth trying to tug down into a guilty frown, but I refused to allow any of it to spread across my face. Ever since Roxy and I had no choice but to leave Russia, we both have been suffering from intense nightmares almost every night. And these dreams weren't like the 'I'm-falling-and-I'm-going-to-wake-up-with-a-gasp-as-soon-as-I-slam-into-the-hard-ground.' Instead, they were the types of nightmares that were like, 'I'm-about-to-wake-up-screaming-bloody-murder-with-a-thick-sweat-covering-my-entire-body-because-I-just-went-through-hell.' Not only that, but each of the nightmares somehow had to deal with one of the four tragic events that completely twisted mine and Roxy's lives around.

I opened my mouth to ask her if she had a nightmare last night, but before I could get a word out, the sound of a match being lit snatched a hold of my attention. That's when I noticed Bender lighting the tip of his boot on fire, a cigarette suspending from one of the corners of his lips. He then carelessly shook the match out and tossed it to the floor, right before he actually pulled his foot up to his face and stuck the end of his cancer stick into the boot's flame. As a reaction, I narrowed my eyes and shook my head disapprovingly, deciding that right then would be a great time to see what the other detention goers were caught up in doing.

One of my eyebrows automatically quirked upward when I saw the Geek 'accidentally' drop his beanie into his lap. It didn't take much effort to notice that Brian was attempting to hide his tiny warrior, which was getting itself excited after the Nerd took some time to stare in the direction of the daydreaming Claire.

"Он не имеет абсолютно никакого проклятый шанс..." I muttered to myself as I peeked down and saw a loose thread poking out from my flannel. ' _He has absolutely no damn chance..._ ' Just then, as I pinched a hold of the deep green strand between my thumb and index finger, I glanced over at the Basket Case with a small smirk poking around the corners of my lips. It took a couple of moments, but it felt like it was supposed to take place on a specific cue before Allison peeked over at me. I arched an eyebrow, continuing to smugly grin as the two of us made eye contact and I slowly pulled on the thread so she would understand what I was getting at.

In return, another mistakenly innocent smile slipped across the Basket Case's face for a split second. She nodded at me, not wasting another second before she began her personal search for a piece of thread from her own entirely dark outfit.

While waiting, I glanced over at the Jock, watching as he absentmindedly played around with the drawstrings of his deep blue hoodie. After that, my eyes fluttered over to the Princess, who was still staring off into the distance and stupidly grinning as this glazed look in her Hershey colored eyes gave it away that she was completely lost in her own world of shopping, shirtless guys, and makeovers.

When I then turned my head to look back over at Allison, I couldn't help but fix my electric blue eyes on Roxy as she released a small groan. "Whoever is messing around with matches or whatever, put out the damn fire..." Her accent was dripping in a mixture of sleepiness and annoyance, meaning that you wouldn't want to even try messing around with her. "I would like to leave this detention without the tiniest bit of contamination in my lungs from secondhand smoke."

The Rebel stared over his shoulder, gluing his eyes on her instantly. The burning cigarette repeatedly danced from one corner of his mouth to the other, but after he took the time to examine how my sister now looked - her face still hidden from pure exhaustion with her somewhat messy ponytail still raining down to the nape of her neck - Bender wordlessly turned back around in his seat and easily smacked the fire out.

After that, I turned my attention back over towards Allison and noticed that she finally found a thread, her shock from how long it was completely exposed all over her face. With another small smirk fiddling around with the edges of my mouth, the Basket Case and I started wrapping our strands of thread around our forefingers to see who could go the longest without stopping over the worry of cutting off the blood circulation or from running out of thread. It was a so-called game that we both sometimes did in order to occupy each other when we were oh-so-desperately bored.

Bender, on the other hand, began to play another imaginary air instrument. By the calm look that was plastered on his face, I could tell that the nicotine must've definitely been racing through his entire body at an impressive speed.

The tip of my index finger was starting to become a bright shade of purple, but when I gazed over to see how Allison was doing, I immediately noticed how much deeper the shade of purple was on the tip of her forefinger. Without any need for hesitation, I started to unravel the green thread from my finger and released three quick whistles in a row, making it sound like I was calling for a dog. The Basket Case stared over at me in less than a second, and I mouthed, " _You win this one._ " I could tell that she must've understood what I said, because she flashed me a stealthy smirk and nodded before she began untying the black strand from her index finger. After she did so, she snatched her pen back up and continued scribbling away at her piece of paper.

When I fixed my eyes back on the Athlete then, I witnessed him beginning to play paper football with himself. Within seconds, he was letting out silent roars of complete cheer and celebration, as if he just won the ultimate championship or something like that.

Suddenly, as I started to fall back into boringly staring at my slip of paper, I heard the sound of Bender's voice say, "Hey." And sure enough, when I cranked my neck back up so I could see the Hoodlum, we ended up making eye contact since he had turned himself back around in his chair yet again.

With a careless roll of my eyes, I said, "What in the hell could _you_ possibly want?"

"I want you to give this to the Russian Queen," Bender instructed, clearly choosing to ignore my eye roll as he held up his red scarf.

From the corner of my eye, I took in how Roxy hadn't shifted from her resting position even the slightest bit. Nevertheless, she was peacefully drawing in deep breaths before quietly releasing them after a matter of seconds each time, revealing how she was definitely out like a light.

I scoffed. "Are you kiddin' me?" I watched the Delinquent blow a gray cloud towards the ceiling after he took another drag from his cigarette. "There's no way in hell I'm letting any piece of you go near my sister." I viciously sneered.

Bender took the opportunity to then roll his deep brown eyes. "It's just a damn scarf. What could somebody possibly do to tamper with a scarf?" He slowly made eye contact with me again, a slim smirk peeling across one of the corners of his mouth after a moment. "You wouldn't want her to be cold, would you?" The Criminal released a small snicker, extending his arm out towards me with his hand clutching one of the ends of the red scarf.

I darkly glared at him, my eyes narrowed in intense warning as I grinded my teeth just a little bit behind my closed lips. As much as I despised admitting it, the library _was_ pretty drafty, and even though I was beginning to wish that I could take off my leather jacket to give it to Roxy for warmth, I honestly knew that I couldn't take the risk of having any of the other detainees catching the smallest glimpse of any of my scars.

Wordlessly, I reached across the table and yanked the scarf out of Bender's hand, but the scowl refused to fade from my face. In return, the Rebel smirked in satisfaction and spun himself back around in his chair. As he did so, he took one final inhale of his cigarette, holding the smoke in until he dropped the cancer stick to the floor and put it out with the tip of his boot.

Suddenly, as my glare slowly vanished when I took the time to gently wrap the pretty warm scarf around my sister's shoulders, I couldn't help but feel like I was just smacked in the face with a handful of sleeping dust. My eyelids were starting to grow heavy, drooping slowly before popping back open at the speed of lightning, only so they would start falling again right after. I rested my arms in the same 'X' position that Roxy had hers, right before I relaxed the side of my head down on top of my right forearm so I could be looking in the direction of my sister and the Basket Case. I didn't even bother to battle with my sleepiness, allowing my eyelids to fall and actually stay closed. Before I knew it, I was off in my own dreamland ... and it was awful.

* * *

 _My jaw dropped as a loud, bloodcurdling scream roughly racked itself against the inside of my chest, but not a peep escaped from my mouth. I could've sworn that my eyes were about to explode clear out of my head as I stood there at the top of the wooden staircase, absolutely stunned in what I was looking at. There was a woman with brunette hair at the bottom, lying motionlessly against the carpeted floor with one of her arms bent underneath her slender figure. The bright yellow sweater that she was wearing - decorated in the pattern of pastel pink lilies and what looked like fresh splatters of blood - was now suspending off from the left half of her upper body, exposing her other vaguely tanned arm. From what I could see, it looked like there was about seven dark bruises dotted along her skin._

 _Kneeling beside the brunette woman was a black-haired man, the denim shirt that he was wearing showing off every single dent and muscle that was carved into his towering high figure. His large hands were on the lady's slightly broad shoulders, shaking her rather roughly as he exclaimed in a solid and entirely Russian accent, "Penelope, Проснись! This isn't a game! Проснись!" 'Wake up!' I could've sworn I saw a solid green, glass bottle that was half empty resting beside one of the man's huge feet, which were hardly covered by a pair of desperately torn up socks._

 _"Penelope, this isn't funny! Get your осел up!" the man ordered, almost spitting as he continued to shake the young woman. 'Ass.' Then, just as I thought that the scene couldn't possibly become anymore horrifying, I was proven wrong when the man smacked his hands onto his knees and released a loud moan of aggravation. Without any need of hesitation, he shoved the lady over, revealing her entire front side. I could've sworn that my stomach sunk down to my knees, a massive wave of nausea splashing against my face as I hooked my hands over my mouth in an unbelievable amount of shock._

 _One of the woman's cheekbones were completely visible, blood slowly trickling out of the fresh wound and dripping down the side of her head. Black circles, one of them already halfway done with healing while the other looked brand new, surrounded both of her closed eyes. The front of her orange tank top was torn up, revealing most of her purple bra and the plunging hole that had been sliced into her midriff. That enhanced bloodbath was pouring out of her like a river, soaking the upper half of her deep blue jeans and staining the carpet as it drained the color from her skin in the blink of an eye. Her bangs stuck to the deep cut that was split across her forehead and more blood leaked out from her wide open mouth, exposing how she had somehow lost at least two teeth. The nasty scent of her blood and slowly decaying flesh whirled around the air, making the corners of my eyes water._

 _Nonetheless, what really got to me was the way her head was positioned. It was bent all the way to the left, the bottom of her earlobe passing a couple of inches from the end of her shoulder. And that revealed the truth that her neck was really broken._

 _I imagined the sound of her neck cracking, disfiguring her head from the rest of her body and ending her life just like that. My cheeks automatically puffed out as a sharp gag that was too strong for me to control forced some vomit to leap into my mouth, but I kept one of my hands pinned over my lips and turned around to make a run for it. However, I accidentally tripped over my own bare foot before I could manage taking my second step, resulting in a loud BOOM echoing throughout the two-story house as soon as my side landed against the floor._

 _I quickly looked over my shoulder, witnessing the black-haired man immediately fix his attention up on the top of the staircase._ _"Hey!" he bellowed in evident rage, but I had already scrambled myself back up and took off down the short and narrow hallway. As soon as I hurried into the ridiculously small bedroom that Roxy and I had shared ever since we were first born, I slammed the oak door shut behind me and locked it._

 _My sister was sitting cross legged on her neatly made bed, currently lost in bobbing her head to a song that was coming from her brand new Walkman. She was dressed in a pair of denim overalls and a plain black T-shirt that was noticeably a couple sizes too big for her naturally thin figure, but it was still doable. Her jet-black hair was pulled all the way back, exposing her whole face as it trailed down to the center of her shoulder blades in a single silky braid. A bright purple bruise decorated the middle of her left cheek, the gradually fading bluish rim that surrounded it proving that it was healing._

 _"Roxy!" I quickly trotted over to her bed, immediately pulling her right headphone out of her ear and then her left one as soon as I got there._

 _"What the - Comrade?" Roxy snapped her head in my direction almost instantly. "What the hell are you doing?"_

 _I could hear the blaring lyrics of the "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper coming from her Walkman. No wonder she didn't hear me bash into the room and then slam the door shut..._

 _"There's no time to explain," I informed as I stared directly into her eyes with every serious word I spoke. "Come on, we're going to hide under your bed."_

 _Roxy threw her legs over the edge of her bed and she stood up onto her bare feet, refusing to break her eye contact with me as she did so. "We're going to what?" Her accent was dripping in a mixture of shock and confusion._

 _"Like I said, there's no time to explain!" I exclaimed in an incredibly hushed and strict voice. "Come on, Dad's on his way up and his ass has never been this pissed before!"_

 _That was all my sister needed to hear before she eagerly got down on her hands and knees, refusing to allow another moment to slip by. As she wiggled herself into the dimness that was underneath her bed, I positioned myself flat on my stomach and hauled myself after her. Shoving aside some neatly organized bored games and childishly named stuffed toys, I bent my legs at their knees so they were fully hidden as well, my whole body lying as still as possible beside my obviously nervous sister._

 _She looked directly at my face, resting on her side in an almost entirely fetal position. Each of her excessively quiet breaths trembled in masked fear, her eyes resembling totally anxious and glassy marbles. Ever so gently, I caringly caressed her cheek with my knuckles to help her calm down._

 _"Hush now, Rox. Everything is going to be okay..." I quietly spoke with the straightest face known to all mankind. I knew with my entire heart and soul that there was no way in hell I could tell her about what I just witnessed from the hallway._

 _"Comrade, what could he possibly be pissed about this time?" Roxy asked, almost sounding like she was pleading for an answer._

 _I hesitated for a moment, pressing my lips together to the point where they looked like they were about to vanish from the rest of my face. "You ... you definitely do not want to know." I assured, but when Roxy cocked one of her eyebrows at me in utter confusion, I arched both of my eyebrows and added, "Trust me, you don't." However, just as I got to the 'you,' I was interrupted when a loud BOOM erupted from the opposite side of the locked door._

 _"Roxanne! Comrade!" the bitter sound of the black-haired man's accent blustered, followed by three more loud BOOMS. He was violently banging his fist against the door. "You two better open this door! I know your asses can hear me! Let me in right this minute!" There was a small pause, but the silence was shattered when the doorknob was heard getting madly jiggled. After that, there were two more BOOMS, followed by the man's voice exclaiming, "On the count of three, this door better be open or else I'll just open it myself!"_

 _Silently, I raised my forefinger up to my lips and shushed my sister. In return, she meekly nodded, still not allowing her attention to draw away from my face._

 _"One!"_

 _BOOM! BOOM!_

 _"Two!"_

 _BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_

 _Roxy flinched a little, closing her eyes for a split second before quickly opening them again in order to continue looking at me._

 _"Don't be scared. I won't let him hurt you." I mouthed to her, the straightest face in all of existence still plastered on my face. Again, my sister softly nodded her head in response._

 _"THREE!" the black-haired man, who definitely didn't deserve to be known as mine and Roxy's father, was completely fed up for about the billionth time in his entire life. "That's it! I warned you two! You had your chance to make this easy and you both blew it!" Within seconds, our bedroom door swung open and rammed into the wall from the lock giving out, it being weakened by the single rough kick that our dad had slammed against the doorknob._

 _Dad towered in the doorway, a demonic stare printed across his crimson face. "Где черт возьми вы двое?" he blurted out as soon as his hard eyes finished scanning around the small bedroom. 'Where in the hell are you two?' A couple of seconds of plain stillness went by as Roxy and I just blinked, remaining as still as statutes._

 _Our father suddenly chuckled, sounding evidently devious. "Are we playing Hide and Seek again?" He stepped into the room, slowly glancing around at every inch possible and sending uneasy chills up my spine. "You know, you two should really just come out because I know you're in here and I have something very important to discuss with you both." Dad then tapped his foot vaguely against the floor, beginning to carelessly fiddle around with some of Roxy's possessions - a pair of floral sunglasses, a dusty snow globe, a rubber bouncy ball, and a couple of multicolored gel pens - that were resting on top of her dresser._

 _Confusion started to sparkle across Roxy's eyes as she lip synced, "What do you think he wants to talk about?" Nonetheless, I only shrugged, pretending that I had no damn clue._

 _"I'm warning you, Comrade and Roxanne ... I'm not in the damn mood for any of these obnoxious hiding games." the black-haired man growled, the impatience overpowering his accent once again. The echoing sound of his footsteps stomped over towards the closet, making the floor feel like it was shaking beneath Roxy and I as he ripped the door open and roughly slid the hangers apart, only to reveal the unaccompanied backspace. "Dammit!" Dad then furiously rammed the closet door shut again, right before he threw a rough punch against the peeling wallpaper and continued grumbling in Russian under his breath._

 _Repeating myself from a little before, I placed my index finger against my lips and silently hushed Roxy, noticing some glimmering tears beginning to outline the corners of her eyes. We were huddled up so closely together that I could've sworn that the wild beating I was hearing wasn't coming from my heart, but hers. I had gotten so lost in paying so much attention to my sister's exposed nervousness that I hadn't really noticed how our whole bedroom room was beginning to become overwhelmed with complete stillness. In fact, it had grown so quiet that I was positive that if somebody dropped a pin, the entire neighborhood would definitely be able to hear it._

 _"All right, Comrade..." Roxy mouthed, but just as she began to understandingly nod her head and she opened her mouth to say something else, I witnessed her eyes shoot gigantic like she just saw the actual devil. Out of nowhere, her eyes had became so massively large that it was as if they were suddenly too large for her head. "COMRADE!" Roxy then released a horrified and ear-splitting shrill as she was roughly yanked out from underneath the bed, Dad's sturdy hands securely locked around her bare ankles._

 _I could've sworn my heart dropped all the way down to my gut. A strong amount of my stored up anger was triggered immediately. By this point, a small piece of me was starting to debate whether or not my cheeks were beginning to melt off from the rest of my face, courtesy of how blistering hot they've become in that tiny cluster of seconds. "ROXY!" I shoved myself out from under the bed as fast as I could, my body flopping around on the floor like a fish out of water. Without any hesitation, I snapped my neck around in the direction of weeping my sister, releasing a somewhat loud "дерьмо!" through my angrily clenched teeth after I accidentally bumped the back of my head against the bed's wooden frame in the process. 'Shit!'_

 _Roxy had already lifted herself back up onto her hands and knees, but as she desperately attempted to stretch out her body and regain her freedom by wiggling around as much as she could, our father heartlessly gave her another cruel tug. Her arms instantly fell back and she sank onto her stomach, bumping her chin pretty hard against the carpeted floor as her hot tears began to flow down her face like individual rivers._

 _Dad was kneeling down by her feet, his chapped lips peeled back to reveal his viciously grinding (and not to mention bright yellow looking) teeth. "Stop your squirming!" he demanded, almost spitting in my sister's hair from how she was struggling to keep her streaked face hidden in the carpet. He was squeezing her ankles to the point where some of her skin was beginning to turn bright red, leaving her feet with the lack of ability to move, and his knuckles were slowly becoming as white as snow. Then, just as I thought that the scene couldn't possibly get any worse, the black-haired man released Roxy's ankles only so he could throw his muscular arms around her waist. Her pleading whimpers and falling tears were left ignored as he roughly lifted her into the air, rolling his eyes at how she was still madly kicking her legs around, and he tossed her over his broad shoulder, leaving her secured there like a sack of potatoes._

 _"Let me down! Let me down! Please let me down!" Roxy, as much as I knew she loathed it, was sobbing so hard that her breathing was raspy and her whole body was quaking in terror._

 _"Shh..." Our father jammed his free hand into one of the desperately worn out pockets of his charcoal colored jeans and pulled out a cigarette. Leaving it unlit, he placed its end between his chapped lips, taking in the heartbreaking noise of Roxy's stuffy cries with absolutely no emotion whatsoever. "Hush now, my children. There's no need to weep or struggle away from me, you both know that. Now ... I know that you two wouldn't want to make me even more mad than what I already am due to both of you acting disobedient with me."_

 _"Вы сукин сын!" I blurted out without even bothering to consider the consequences. 'You son of a bitch!' My accent was overflowing with rage and flames of fire from the deepest part of the devil's wonderland might as well have been flickering in my eyes. "Who in the hell do you think you are?! Put Roxy down, Вы чертовски отродье сатаны!" I quickly helped myself up from the floor, refusing to remove my sharp scowl from the black-haired man. 'You damn spawn of Satan!' Even at the age of twelve, I looked like I was about to turn fourteen. Roxy, on the other hand, looked more like a defenseless ten-year-old._

 _Dad pinned his lips tightly together, the dark bags that suspended underneath his cold eyes completely noticeable as his entire face managed to be overrun by another tender shade of scarlet right in front of me. "All right..." A low, clearly pissed off growl vibrated out of his throat, his cigarette slightly dancing between his lips as he spoke. "You better watch that damn mouth of yours before I decide to slice your tongue out in your sleep, Comrade."_

 _I narrowed my eyes at him, refusing to acknowledge his dark and terribly vivid threat. Right then, my focus was entirely on protecting my sister. "If you think you're going to hurt her, I assure you that you're going to have to go through me first." I snarled in complete seriousness as I curled my fingers up and tightened them as hard as I could, transforming my sort of bruised up hands into solid fists._

 _"God, Comrade, I don't have time for your damn nonsense! I have something that's actually important at this moment in my life to deal with!" As the demonic glare on the black-haired man's face grew redder, he shot his unoccupied arm out and grabbed a rough handful of the front of my barely stained T-shirt that advertised a picture of The Beatles over the chest. And that's when I flung my arm back, keeping my hand as steady as possible in its solidly clenched position as it then came in contact with my father's nose. Without any hesitation, as soon as he automatically released a loud "UGH!" that was created out of both fury and pain, Roxy hid her face in the back of Dad's shoulder blade, not being able to resist releasing another scream, but it was muffled by his shirt._

 _A small, but very sharp twinge raced through my knuckles. I peeked down to examine them, shaking my hand like that was somehow going to end the pain as I continuously repeated "черт побери!" under my breath. 'Dammit!' And that's when I noticed something. My full attention mistakenly drew to my knuckles, causing the rest of the scarring scene that was going on right in front of me to grow almost entirely forgettable. There was blood now smeared across my knuckles, courtesy of none other than how I must've given my dad a bloody nose. His deep red blood that felt unbelievably cold to me was dripping down my hand and slipping between my fingers. The first time I actually gave a bloody nose instead of being the one receiving it..._

 _Suddenly, the dark-haired man caught me off guard as he flung his unoccupied arm around my shoulders and hauled me up over his tall and burly figure. My head was pinned against his ribs so hard to the point where I could feel them uncomfortably massaging the back of my neck. His arm slid up and I could've sworn that I felt his fingertips burying into the bone of my shoulder as he squeezed his open palm against it. He had his very muscular forearm pressed against the front of my throat, his hard bones poking against my skin as the oxygen started to gradually disappear from my lungs._

 _My hands flew to my father's arm and I grabbed it as hard as I could, but no matter how much I tried to force his forearm away from my throat, it was no use. He was too damn strong for me to beat. My eyes were gigantic, literally looking like they were now bulging right out of my head as I attempted to regain some air when I opened my mouth, but all I ended up being able to do was let out what sounded like a choked gasp._

 _"It's time for you both to come with me..." Dad growled, unaffected by my fingernails that were currently lunged into his skin. I could smell the stale alcohol on his breath ... and that's when I remembered the half empty bottle from downstairs. "Come, my little children..." Without another word, the black-haired man turned around and exited the incredibly tiny bedroom, ignoring my strained coughs and my sister's muffled sobs as he started to down the hallway like everything was ordinary._

 _My legs wouldn't stop flailing around, pounding against the wooden floor with one erupting BOOM following the next._ _I clutched my eyes shut, secretly wishing with my entire life on the line that this was some sort of awful dream that I'd been trapped in ever since Roxy and I were first born. Right then, half of me was beginning to pray that I would finally wake up in a safe, secure, and loving home with my sister. Unfortunately, I deeply understood that this was our actual life ... and I freaking hated it._

 _As I cracked my eyes back open just a little bit, I couldn't resist beginning to imagine how purple my face must've been growing from my large lack of oxygen. My lungs were tingling, now feeling like they were on fire. At the same time, my heart was pounding faster than I've ever felt it pound before in my chest, each hard pump rocketing up my spine and causing my head to twitch. Then, just as an aching pain started fingering at the center of my brain and I thought that I was about to fall unconscious, the heartless man detangled his arm from around my neck and he shoved me into the hall closet._

 _Immediately, I placed my clean hand against my throat and drew in a deep breath, feeling it whirl around inside of my lungs before expanding throughout the rest of my body._

 _"Это верно, получить ничего не стоящие задницы там!" Dad hissed. With another one of his painfully rough yanks, he removed Roxy from his shoulder and shoved her away from him as soon as her feet hovered just inches above the cold and dusty floor. 'That's right, get your worthless asses in there!' By this point, after my sister had managed to catch her balance from our father pushing her, she slowly backed herself up into one of the tiny and dull colored room's corners. Tears were still tracing down her crimson face, but her bawling had definitely decreased, becoming nothing more than some noticeably softened sniffles as she shrank herself up into the terrified fetal position after her back came in contact with two of the meeting walls (which, by the way, were damaged from a couple of old water stains)._

 _"What in the hell is wrong with you?!" I screamed at the top of my renewed lungs, shooting glaring eyes of pure hatred at the man that was towering darkly in the doorway. "You could've suffocated me into a coma! If you squeezed my neck any harder, you might've just cut off my airway permanently! You hear me, алкогольные кусок дерьма?! You could have actually just killed me!" 'Alcoholic piece of shit!'_

 _"Don't you even think about trying to cheer me up right now, you hear me? I'm pissed as hell..." Dad cursed some more under his breath and rolled his eyes, right before he pulled out his deep purple lighter from his other worn out jeans pocket. With a small flick of his thumb, the glowing flame automatically appeared at the lighter's tip and he used it to light up his cigarette, which was still securely poking out from one of the corners of his mouth. He inhaled an unbelievably deep drag, relaxing his eyes shut and holding his cancer stick between his middle and index fingers until the smoke seeped out from his nostrils._

 _I narrowed my eyes at him for about the millionth time, but then just decided to roll them away so I could set my attention back on Roxy. She hadn't shifted from her fetal position in the corner, her chin tucked on top of her knees with her arms wrapped around her shins, holding her legs extremely close to the rest of her slender figure as she vaguely rocked herself back and forth. Also, more salty tears continued to leak out from her eyes, which were now highlighted with bright red rims and glowing with a mixture of fear and nervousness. Believe it or not, absolutely nothing except our father terrified Roxy like that._

 _"Penelope had a little accident..." Dad said like it was the simplest thing in the entire world to say. Instantly, I fixed my attention back on him, the uneasiness from what I had seen just minutes before at the bottom of the staircase beginning to take over my whole mind once again. At the same time, what felt like a bottomless whirlpool of nausea splashed around in the pit of my stomach. However, just as I glanced down at the floor to avoid making eye contact with my father, something came to my realization. All of that blood ... the position that I noticed the woman's head was in ... the fact that her neck was definitely dismantled ... there was no way in hell that she could've just done that to herself. How could that have just been a 'little accident?'_

 _Roxy rose her head from her knees immediately, her mouth hanging open in shock. "An accident?" she blurted out, clearly worried. "Is she o-"_

 _Unfortunately, before she could finish getting out the word 'Okay,' our father flung his forefinger up to his mouth. "Shh!" His eyes had creepily expanded in less than a second, his pupils almost looking entirely dilated as they swayed back and forth from me to my sister. "Hush, my children ... and do not even think about weeping ... life is full of unexpected situations, you hear me?" He raised one of his bushy eyebrows, taking a couple of seconds to coldly examine Roxy before he glanced over at me. "Accidents like ... getting married to a woman who ended up refusing to have an abortion after discovering that she was pregnant ... but just as the dear husband then believes that the incident couldn't possibly get any worse, he's proven wrong when he overhears his woman say she's carrying twins ... and after twelve agonizing years, she has an accident, abandoning her husband to handle the two little bitches himself." He rose his cigarette back up to his lips, sucking in another heavy drag and allowing the nicotine race through his system before the smoke poured out from his nostrils again._

 _With every word that the black-haired man said, the more I felt the realization increase inside of me, which caused my heart to begin picking up the pace yet again. My eyes expanded, looking like they had morphed into two massive glass globes that took up the entire upper half of my face._

 _"As for right now..." Dad ran his other hand that wasn't holding his cancer stick through his buzz-cut. I could see the deep shade of scarlet gradually returning to his cheeks, but most of it was hidden by his patchy stubble. "I have some damn business to take care of between Penelope and I. It sure as hell is personal business too ... and I don't need your asses snooping around. So until I finish what I need to handle with her..." Finally, I started stomping towards the door with a brand new scowl plastered on my face, but before I could even attempt saying a word, Dad creepily stepped back at the speed of lightning and slammed the closet door shut. "Until I finish what I need to handle between Penelope and I, you two will be keeping your worthless asses put in there!"_

 _I grabbed the doorknob so roughly that I was already beginning to wonder whether or not my knuckles were going to pop, but as I jiggled the knob, I instantly became aware that Dad had locked Roxy and I in the closet. By this point, I was so furious that tears were steaming up in the corners of my eyes and taking their time to leak down my reddened cheeks._

 _"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO OUR MOTHER?!" I was hollering louder than I ever have before, repeatedly banging my clenched fists against the door and smearing some of the leftover blood from my father's nose against the wood. BANG! BANG! BANG! "LET US OUT OF HERE! WHAT IN THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER?!" My accent was beginning to be influenced by my pain and sorrow, the tears raining down my face like hot waterfalls as I continued to violently rack my fists against the wooden door. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! "I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME, YOU DAMN DRUNK! OPEN THIS DOOR! LET US OUT!" I was beginning to sob. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO OUR MOTHER?!"_

 _"Comrade!" Roxy whimpered as she quickly helped herself up from the dusty floor and trotted over to be. "Comrade, calm down!" Just then, as she looped her arms around me from behind in an attempt to get me to stop my furious screaming, we both froze when we overheard a small 'click' noise come from the opposite side of the door. It had been unlocked, the knob now starting to slowly rotate to the right until it could turn no more. And finally, as the door finally flew open, Roxy and I ended up staring in complete confusion after we noticed who was staring back at us from the hallway._

 _"Какого черта..." I grumbled under my breath as I hurriedly wiped away as many of my tears as I could. "Mr. Vernon?!" 'What the hell...'_

 _The Principal's narrowed eyes examined me from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head, right before they did the same to Roxy. A stern glare was plastered on his face, coated with a bright shade of scarlet._

 _"Wake up!" Vernon finally snapped._

* * *

My electric blue eyes shot open as my entire body twitched from Dick's sharp voice, but I hadn't shifted from the position that I had fallen asleep in. So it really was just a nightmare...

Beside me, Roxy released a small and muffled groan, announcing that she was also awake. Until now, I hadn't realized that all around the library, each of the other detainees had decided to allow themselves to doze off as well. And now, even though we each remained in our sleeping positions, that didn't stop Vernon from scolding us from where he now stood at the front of the room.

The Principal's eyes jumped around, briefly examining the seven of us before he said, "Who has to go to the lavatory?"

Without any hesitation, I lazily shot my arm up into the air with Roxy accompanying me in less than a second. At the exact same time, the five other arms that belonged to each of the other Saturday detention goers unitedly rose.

* * *

 **A/N: How did you all like that chapter? :) It's so far the longest one yet! :D**

 **Remember, my goal is at least four reviews per chapter! :) :) Feedback really does make my creativity soar! :D**

 **ALSO: Please keep in mind that I return to school on August 19th, but no matter what, I'm not going to give up on my writing. :)**

 **Anyway, that's all I got for now, so I'll see you all in the next chapter! :D :D :) :) Until the next update, everyone! :) :) :D :D**

 **THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!**


	5. Pleasure Doing Business With You

**A/N: Look who is back with the next chapter of "The Reality Check & The Handicapped." :D :D **

**Before we begin, I would like to apologize for how long it has taken me to update this story. Seriously, I posted the previous chapter a couple of weeks before school started and I'm now in my final nine weeks of my junior year. So, I'm so sorry for how long it has taken me.**

 **I hope I didn't scare any of you into thinking I was abandoning this story. Like I said, I'm _not_ quitting _any_ of my stories here on FanFiction. I've just been _so_ caught up in juggling all of my homework, studying, and projects. Nonetheless, I only have until June 1st before I'm free for the summer! :D I'm almost there!**

 **Also, my birthday is coming up! :D May 25th! :D I can't wait! :D**

 **Let me take a moment to also thank all of the people who have took their time to read, review, favorite, and follow this story so far. Seriously, there are no words that could possibly describe how amazing I think all of you are. :) Thank you all _so_ much for your kind words. All of you rock! :D**

 **Remember, reviews make my day! My goal still stands to get at least four reviews per chapter, so please share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me! :) I appreciate each and every one of them! :)**

 **Also : I would like to congratulate the amazing director, John Hughes (Lord rest his soul). A few months ago, The Breakfast Club had another fantastic anniversary and we were all able to celebrate another great year with it. :) :) It is and always will be a downright amazing movie with great characters, hilarious humor, and overall, a powerful lesson. Don't worry, John. We'll all make sure that this fantastic movie carries on for many more years. God bless. :) *Pumps fist into the air* **

**Fun Fact** **: It took me about two-to-three months to create every little detail about Comrade and Roxy. There's still _a lot_ for all of you to read and learn about them. ;)**

 **Well, I believe I shared everything that I wanted to say. It's time to sit back, relax, and enjoy!**

 **Happy reading, everyone! :D**

* * *

Allison's POV

I curled my fingers up, positioning them like claws before I dug my chipped nails into the farther edge of my table, stretching. My eyes were still tightly clenched shut, trying to shove aside the remaining drowsiness. The last thing I remember before dozing off was glancing around at the other detention goers with this piercing look plastered on my face. As my mom would say, I was 'studying their auroras.' But according to me and my own terms, I was exploring my mind and pulling out as much information as I could about all of these guys. Unfortunately, aside from Comrade and Roxy Alexandrov, what I recalled about the others wasn't very helpful.

Gingersnap - one of Comrade's words, not mine - was just as I expected she would be. I've seen her standing at her locker plenty of times, always fixing her hair and dressed up in the most polished dresses, skirts, and blouses like she was a Ralph Lauren Barbie doll. It sickened me. In the simplest words, she was a snobby pain in the ass who constantly bashed the 'lower class' people and gave them the stink eye.

The annoying stutterer was Brian Johnson. I only knew his name because he was in my algebra class, but we never talked. Hell, I barely made a squeak to anyone. Like the rest of Shermer's well-known nerds, Brian sat in the front of the whole class and was highly intelligent. He also, of course, had a terribly low self-esteem and allowed others to step all over him, judging by how he kept reacting to Bender's comments. I always figured that Brian was insecure, but I was never able to witness it so closely before until today.

Jockstrap, from what I learned just by observing him so far, was a hostile wrestler with a sharp tongue. Like the Princess, I've also seen him in the halls between classes. He was always walking with his group of athletic friends, laughing obnoxiously as they took turns flexing their muscles and giving each other high fives. It always made me roll my eyes, but every time I laid my eyes on Sporto, the same thought swept across my mind: he was very insecure. It might've not been completely noticeable, but I could detect insecurity from miles away. He constantly felt like he had to include his two cents, refusing most of the time to think his words through before he said them.

John Bender ... everyone - even the freshmen - knew about him. He was known as the toughest badass in all of Shermer High School. Nearly everybody was terrified of him, even the teachers. I sure as hell wasn't, but I guess my lack of fear was a side effect of how often I left my house and stayed on the streets to avoid the constant arguing and neglect of my parents. I didn't just see Bender between classes or smoking pot with some of his buddies behind the school after hours, but I sometimes spotted him wandering through my neighborhood by himself. And judging by the multiple cuts, bruises, and bandages I've seen him with over the past months, it was safe for me to believe that something else was secretly going on in his life. Still, that didn't change how much of an irritating pervert he was.

And lastly, there was none other than Comrade and Roxy. They were the only friends I had in my life, considering I was very much against socializing. Not like I had a choice; everyone in this shit hole thought that I was insane. Before they moved here from Russia, the only person - or rather _thing_ \- I had to count on was my black cat, Eclipse. Their grandparents and them were my home away from home, not including the _many_ dark alleyways I've spent hours sitting around in. I could spend this whole detention talking about them, but saying it like this was much easier: they were complete opposites.

Comrade, despite his camouflaged depression, was a walking and breathing reality check that didn't two shits about the consequences of his brutal honesty. He was willing to do anything - and I mean _anything_ \- to drill his points through the thick skulls of others. Roxy, on the other hand, might've possessed her own sassy attitude and cursed some people out in Russian, but she still used her heart to think more than her head on a daily basis. She gave herself a limit and refused to cross it, which is why she - unlike Comrade - never landed herself in detention. That is, until today.

Needless to say, the two of them were my best friends ... and nothing pissed me off more than listening to how Vernon talked to them. Especially Comrade.

I kept my head hanging, scrunching my chin up into my neck as I rose my shoulders up to my ears and rolled them in a couple of circular motions.

 _Crack, crack, crack._

After that, with my nose crinkled and the right corner of my mouth curled back to expose some of my teeth, I pulled myself forward and arched my back like a feline. Almost instantly, I felt - and also heard - a mild _pop_ come from the lower half of my back, just around my spine. A smirk smeared molded its way across my mouth. As painful as the noises sounded, the feeling I got when I cracked my bones was always amazing.

I drew myself back so my shoulder blades were perfectly lined up against the back of my seat. Then, while keeping my arms relaxed, I twisted my double-jointed wrists around a few times.

 _Crackle, crackle._

And finally, to get rid of the small - but extremely annoying - kink in my neck, I slowly turned my head to the right and waited about four seconds before yanking the muscle back.

 _Pop._

The relaxing sensation electrocuted through my body again, making my smirk broaden a bit more. I finally opened my eyes back up, but when I did, it immediately came to my realization that all of my fellow detainees - as well as Dick - were staring at me, no longer sleepy. Once again, amused grins were spread widely across Comrade and Roxy's faces. The Diva, on the other hand, had her sludgy mud eyes sharply narrowed in a mixture of scorn and disgust, piercing right through me. Sporto's eyebrows were uneasily raised, as if he of all people never heard a bone crack before. And lastly, Bender and Brian looked like they were about to have their eyes fall out of their sockets from shock.

It was deja vu - an exact replay of what had happened with my nail-biting earlier. The only difference was Vernon's demented glare; and I could tell from the look in his bitter eyes that he believed that I should've been spending my Saturday in an insane asylum instead of detention.

My sneaky smile vanished from my face, only to be replaced by a small scowl. It took less than a second for my eyes to grow hard, jumping around and taking in all of the different faces that were around me. Turns out, I was being nailed with so much attention that half of me started to feel like I was shrinking in my seat right then and there; but the other half - my stronger half - didn't give a shit about it.

Eventually, I reacted by dropping my jaw and slowly running the tip of my tongue across my bottom lip, as if I was saying, 'What in the hell are you all staring at?'

In return, the Delinquent, the Dweeb, and the two preppies turned themselves carefully back around in their seats. It was like they thought that if any of them moved too fast, I would lunge out of my seat and try to strangle someone from the movement. Damn it, I'm not _that_ weird. Comrade and Roxy, on the other hand, continued to stare at me for a few extra seconds with their entertained smiles still covering their faces. By the time they decided to glance away, Roxy had her lips sunk into her mouth to prevent chuckling. At least that made my scowl soften a little.

"All right," Dick announced as he glanced around the library. With that stern glimpse still in his eyes, he scanned me and the other detention goers. "It'll escort the seven of you down to the lavatory. When we get there, you all will go in, do your business, and then come back out." The sharpness enhanced in his voice as he jumped his attention back over to Bender and Comrade, double-taking them. "There will be absolutely _no_ lollygagging of any kind. I will _not_ tolerate any of it. What do you want, Mr. Alexandrov?" While Bender had rolled his eyes at the warning to not pull any shenanigans in the bathroom, Comrade had raised his arm up into the air. His fingers were spread widely apart, making it look like he was about to give someone a high-five; and by the careless look on his face, it was difficult to believe that he had actually been smiling just a moment before.

"I _want_ a one-way ticket out of this shit hole, but I guess I'll settle for asking an actual question. Why in the hell do you have to escort us to the bathroom?" Comrade asked. His intensely blue eyes - I've drawn those eyes dozens of times - were narrowed in mock confusion. "If you haven't noticed, Dick, we aren't damn preschoolers anymore." He gave a quick gesture around the room at the word 'we,' right before he crossed his arms over his chest.

Mr. Vernon narrowed his eyes. "Watch it, Mr. Alexandrov! I'm warning you, you are already on _extremely_ thin ice," he scolded, pointing a finger at Comrade like he really _was_ a preschooler. "You better get a hold of your damn tongue, or else I'll-"

" _What?_ " Comrade exclaimed, cutting Dick off and making Brian jump like a terrified bunny in his chair. Comrade rolled his eyes, but it was easy to detect the note of amusement that was now implanted in his accent. "Tell me, Richard, _what will happen?_ What else could there _possibly_ be for you to do? You already sentenced my ass here for another seven weeks."

Dick opened his mouth, no doubt ready to throw another threat in Comrade's face, but before he could get a word out, somebody else beat him to it.

"Uh, I'm sorry if it's not my business..." It was Brian, who's voice was drenched in nervousness. In less than a second, Comrade's eyes darted over to him, now narrowed and swarming with darkness. "But Mr. Vernon here originally gave you _six_ more weeks of detention, but it changed to _eight_ weeks after you spit that - uh - apple seed at him." As if it was proof, the Nerd held up eight fingers - just like he had earlier when he held up seven to correct Vernon on how many new detentions Bender was assigned.

Comrade clicked his tongue in his mouth and tilted his head, as if he was taking the time to think Brian's statement through. "You know what? You're right, dork ... this _isn't_ any of your business." Comrade sneered. He leaned forward in his chair until his chest was resting directly against the edge of his table. "Now how about you do the rest of us a favor and shut your mousy ass the hell up?"

In less than a second, Roxy flung her arm out and smacked Comrade in his arm. It - from my few personal experiences - wasn't enough force to cause any pain, but the slap of her palm against the leather of his jacket was enough to make a _smack_ sound echo through the library.

"Comrade, _shush!_ " Roxy quietly ordered. Her voice was both fierce and anxious, but in the silence, she might as well have been yelling at the top of her lungs.

Comrade, nonetheless, was left unfazed by the slap. His glare remained perfectly straight on his face, watching as Brian hung his head in embarrassment and twisted himself back around in his chair, twirling his thumbs around. I also noticed the redhead staring in the direction of his table with utter disbelief covering her dollish face. Her eyes were huge and her jaw looked like it was about to fall all the way down to the floor. Damn, even the Princess couldn't believe how Comrade was treating one of her 'subjects.' But like I said before, he's brutally honest.

"That's _enough,_ Mr. Alexandrov!" Mr. Vernon snapped. "If you keep that shitty attitude of yours up, I'll be sure to arrange a home visit to have a little chat with your grandparents!"

At the mention of a home visit, Comrade's eyes widened a bit in surprise, almost resembling the glass eyes of a porcelain doll. Though, his silence didn't last long. "Good! At least that way, they can hear my side of the story and call the police on your ass right then and there for being a pedophile! I mean, seriously," he shot a quick glance in my direction and sarcastically shrugged, "what kind of principal stands outside the restrooms and listens to some of their students relieving themselves?"

I had to bite down on my bottom lip to keep myself from laughing. It was much easier said than done, considering my cheeks started to hurt from my amused smirk and a couple of very quiet snickers managed to leak out of my system.

Roxy, despite how she had just smacked Comrade and commanded him to be quiet, was now wrestling with a smile. Not only that, but I happened to notice that she was locking her jaw in place and pinching herself just a few inches above the knee to also prevent cracking up.

The Jock and Beauty Queen glanced at each other, exchanging their impatient glares.

Bender, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and silently mouthed a long string of curse words to himself. I was a master at reading lips, and let's just say, the Delinquent wasn't planning on becoming a companion or an ass-kisser to the Reality Check _at all._

"Damn it, Mr. Alexandrov! That's _it!_ " Vernon bellowed, looking like he was on the verge of having hot steam pour out of his nostrils and ears. "I swear, if you don't shut your mouth right now, I'm sure as hell going to-"

Suddenly, Roxy shot her hand into the air, holding it up as high as she could. Whether Dick had silenced himself because he was caught off guard or because he didn't know how else to shake some sense into Comrade, I didn't know. I was just glad that he had stopped yelling at Comrade and making him look like a worthless shithead in front of me, his own sister, and the other detention goers.

"Excuse me, Mr. Vernon? Sir?" Roxy spoke up. She kept her voice soft and calm, almost like she was overflowing with sudden shyness as she lowered her arm. _That,_ I knew without a freckle of doubt, was an act. Roxy, along with Comrade, both possessed the talent to sound and look innocent whenever they wanted.

Reluctantly, the Principal flicked his scowl away from Comrade and locked it on Roxy. "What is it, _Miss_ Alexandrov?" His gruff voice was still seething in anger, giving it away that he was fully prepared to threaten her with more Saturday detentions if she tried mouthing off. By the new look in his eyes, it was like he was thinking to himself, 'I loathe that there's two of them. One is horrible enough.'

Comrade viciously narrowed his eyes. "You better watch that tone of yours, Dick," he snarled, clearly unbothered by Vernon's previous warnings. "Show some respect. That's my sister you're talkin' to." He gave a small gesture towards Roxy at the mention of her, but the Principal didn't care to acknowledge him that time.

"Whether you escort us down to the lavatory or not, can we please go now?" Roxy asked, still maintaining that perfect inoffensive tone. Plus, to make the act even more believable, she now had her hands folded on top of the table. "The seven of us really do need to use the bathroom, sir."

Jockstrap, despite how the Principal wasn't looking at him, nodded his head a little to back Roxy up. At the same time, the redhead straightened herself up in her chair, as though she was getting ready to stand.

Mr. Vernon remained silent, warily eyeing Roxy for a couple of more seconds. After that, he slowly slid his attention back over to Comrade and shot him a dangerous scowl that said, 'I dare you to say something else, you hear me? This isn't over, Alexandrov!' In return, I could tell that Comrade must've received the message. As soon as I opened my mouth and started to nibble on the end of my pen again, I witnessed him carelessly roll his eyes. By the solid glare that he was shooting back at the Principal, it was like he was saying, 'Tell it to my middle fingers, bitch.'

"All right," Vernon announced, sounding just as stern as always. "I'm going to go get the key from my office. Until I get back, I expect all of you to _stay in your seats_ and _not make a damn sound._ " He glanced all around, his eyebrows now raised in dead serious as he studied me and the other detention goers. "I'll only be out for a minute. If I come back in here and see the _tiniest_ thing out of place, I'll be sure to make this Saturday a living hell for the seven of you!"

Cherry, Wrestle Mania, and Brian seemed to tense up in their chairs almost immediately, just as Comrade released a quiet groan. I, on the other hand, slowly narrowed my eyes and continued to chew on my pen, unfazed by the threat. Roxy looked just as unbothered as I was, remaining in her calm and innocent pose with her attention drawn in the direction of Mr. Vernon's voice; but knowing her, I could tell that she was choking down her temper. And Bender...

"Congratulations, Dick," he sneered sarcastically, "you're off to a great start."

With no hesitation, Vernon shot vicious daggers in Bender's direction. Though, instead of saying anything back, all Vernon did was raise his index and pinky fingers again, reminding the Criminal that he already had two more months to spend in this shit hole. That was all it took to make the small, triumph smirk disappear from Bender's face.

"I'll be right back. Stay in your seats!" Finally, after saying those last words, Dick turned away and headed towards the main entrance. Everyone's eyes followed him, seeming to pay no attention to how Bender had raised his middle finger and was in the middle of flicking Vernon off.

When the Principal pushed the door open, it loudly screeched, causing me to bite down on my pen a little harder. Then, as soon as it slammed shut behind him, announcing his exit, Roxy didn't think twice before dropping her calm and sensitive act. She unfolded her hands and seeped back into her chair, mumbling some words in Russian under her breath. Now, I wasn't fluent in Russian - _yet_ \- but I could still make out some of the stuff that she was saying. And let's just say, she was _beyond_ irritated.

" _Finally_ ," Roxy groaned, eventually switching back over to English. "I was beginning to think that he was never going to leave. Damn, what an ass."

Bender swiveled around in his chair, and as soon as he locked his attention on Roxy, a flirtatious smirk twisted across his lips. "Well what do you know? The Russian Beauty isn't afraid to cuss more after all. And here I was beginning to believe that..." The Criminal paused, his mouth remaining open in a staged manner as he eyed the silver crucifix that was hanging around Comrade's neck. "...That you were _too_ _good_ to use indecent language; especially towards Rich. Didn't your mother ever teach you and Russian Massacre to respect your elders?"

At the mention of Mrs. Alexandrov, I tensed up. My eyes widened a bit. Neither Roxy or Comrade ever took the time to talk about their parents to anyone. Even _I_ didn't know the tiniest piece of information about their dad; as for their mom, the only thing that Comrade told me about her was that she was dead. Not only that, but they never brought up the reason behind why they left Russia and moved in with their grandparents in the first place. And despite my curiosity, I wasn't going to force it out of them ... at least not yet.

"Didn't _your_ mother ever teach _you_ to keep your mouth shut unless you were being talked directly to?" Roxy asked, staring boldly in Bender's direction. Her cheeks perfectly resembled two smoldering pools of lava. "And what exactly would _you_ of all people know about respect?"

"You'd be surprised." Mischievous sparks soared through Bender's eyes as he rested his arm across the back of his seat. "I've shown _plenty_ of girls respect and made them all feel like they were on top of the world ... if you get what I mean." He finished with a suggestive wink.

Almost instantly, the Diva cringed in disgust. A light shade of green - barely noticeable - slipped across her cheeks, mixing in with her pale pink blush as she quietly gagged.

Unsatisfied, I wrinkled my nose and continued to chew the end of my pen, as if I was a rabbit nibbling at a carrot.

At the same time, Roxy couldn't help but release a disturbed huff. Though, her silence didn't last long. Her lips curled back, and despite how she was still wearing her dark glasses, I could tell that her eyes were now bitterly narrowed.

"You are absolutely _repulsive_ ," Roxy growled through almost entirely clenched teeth. "I wouldn't be caught _dead_ with you anywhere outside of this damn place."

At the sound of that, Bender's prideful grin vanished and was immediately replaced by a suspicious glare. "Why not?" he asked, now sounding like he was in the middle of challenging Mr. Vernon. Venom invaded his voice, sharpening each of his words. "Are you _afraid?_ Is that it, are you _scared_ to hang out with me? You're _terrified_ of the possibility that _I'll_ be the one to show _you_ how to make your life worth living?"

For a moment, I ripped the pen out of my mouth and tightened my jaw. My shaggy bangs chopped down across my forehead, hiding my eyes as I shot daggers at my latest drawing of an old-fashioned bridge in the wintertime. Eventually, as I drew in one deep breath after another to help maintain my impatience, I peeked over in Bender's direction and silently mouthed " _Shut up..._ " If only he had been looking at me to see it.

Roxy slowly readjusted herself in her chair, straightening her back and pinching the hem of her denim skirt. Right now, I didn't fully know if she was doing that to prevent it from riding up or doing it just to distract herself. Either way, by the look on her face, she was at a definite loss of words from being caught off guard. Comrade, on the other hand, looked like he was on the verge of exploding. A murderous glare was plastered on his face and smothered in an intimidating shade of scarlet. His left eye was also twitching a little. Damn, even while he was mad, I had to admit that he still looked pretty good.

Then, as if he had sensed me looking at him, Comrade turned his head in my direction and locked his eyes on me. I placed the pen back between my teeth and continued to gnaw on it as I ran my fingers through my bangs, pushing them aside so my face could be seen better. And as soon as our eyes met, the redness drained from Comrade's face and his scowl started to fade away. I didn't know why, but I had that effect on him, just like he had that effect on me. I didn't get as angry as him, but we still kept each other in line; and I honestly loved that.

"If that's what you need to tell yourself in order to feed your _precious_ ego, then _fine,_ " the Handicapped scorned, "but it won't change the fact I'm not planning on spending my life around any pricks like _you_."

Bender tilted his head a little to the right, as though he was mentally undressing Roxy. The naughty glint returned to his eyes, just as his mouth morphed into another smug smile. He actually _liked_ seeing Roxy get all riled up; whether it was because this was most likely his first time actually trying to _convince_ a girl to sleep with him and he was finding it amusing or because he just liked pushing her buttons for fun, I couldn't think of a positive answer. The only thing that I was actually sure of was that he thought she was attractive.

"Well, I don't see how in the hell that's going to work, Russian Queen." Bender informed. The concern that was in his voice was noticeably staged, and he flipped his dark hair out of his face as he flicked his attention over to Comrade. Though, he kept his words directed at Roxy as he added, "After all, you have no choice but to spend your whole life _related_ to one."

Comrade let out a quick and dry laugh. "Bender, I think you should focus less on coming up with these pathetic insults and more on making an appointment to get neutered as soon as possible." The Reality Check then stood up from his chair and stretched, unfazed by Vernon's orders to stay seated. "Who knows, maybe if we're lucky, the doctor will also throw in a free operation to remove your tongue."

Immediately, the Hooligan's satisfaction drained away from his face. He sent Comrade a deadly scowl and raised his gloved hands up to his chest, positioning his fingers to make it look like he was strangling someone before snapping their neck. In return, Comrade raised an eyebrow, as if that was his way of saying, 'Bitch, is that _really_ the best threat you can pull off?'

"All right, _that's enough!_ " Sporto sneered, sounding a lot like Mr. Vernon. He curled one of his hands into a fist and tapped his knuckles against the table, refusing to spare a second to glance at Comrade or Bender. "How about we all just keep our mouths shut? Vernon's going to come back at any minute and he's pissed enough. You boneheads better keep it in mind that I'm not planning to miss my meet next Saturday due to any of you."

Comrade rolled his eyes. "Sporto, in case you haven't noticed, I couldn't possibly care less about what's on your agenda. Save it for someone who actually gives a shit."

Roxy pinched the bridge of her nose, grumbling some more unpleasant words under her breath in Russian. But aside from that, the whole library surprisingly managed to fall silent. The Jock, clearly lost in thinking about what the Reality Check just said to him, sent a bitter scowl down at his and the Snob's table. Bender hesitantly shifted himself back around in his chair, but not without sending the Handicapped a solid look that gave it away that he wasn't anywhere near finished with her yet.

Just then, as Brian started to bob his head from side to side and Roxy let out an exasperated sigh, I noticed Comrade approaching my table from the corner of my eye. He was staring directly at me, not even bothering to hide his smug smirk as he jammed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. His bangs fell in front of one of his eyes, hiding it from view. Til' this day, a piece of me still finds it hard to believe that he doesn't have a girlfriend.

I turned my head to return his stare, and as soon as I did, a subtle grin twisted up on one of the corners of my mouth.

"Wow, Reynolds, you definitely are full of surprises." Comrade chuckled by the time he reached my table. He took a seat on the edge, instantly folding his legs like an Indian underneath him and refusing to break his hypnotic eyes away from mine. "I didn't expect to have _you_ of all people in my presence today."

I shrugged, keeping my smile on as I continued to chew on my pen. In return, Comrade playfully narrowed his eyes and smacked his lips.

"Damn, that sure does look appetizing. Mind if I have a bite?" He leaned over, finally shoving his bangs out of the way. There was still a fair distance between us, but I could still smell his cologne and the freshness of mint gum laced around his accent.

I raised my eyebrows and staged a small cough to choke back on a laugh. Pulling the pen out from between my teeth, I clicked it shut, wiped it off against my oversized sweater, and handed it over to him.

Comrade smiled, positioning the pen between his middle and index fingers before he brought the tip up to his mouth. Then, without waiting, he started to gnaw on it like he was a dog viciously that was attacking a bone. The whole time, he refused to break his attention away from me; and this time, I had to bite down on my bottom lip to prevent myself from bursting out into a fit of laughter. In return, Comrade started to flirtatiously growl while he chewed on the pen's tip. Eventually, after about fifteen seconds, he took it out of his mouth and gave it back to me, quietly snickering.

"Thanks, Basket Case."

Grinning, I let out a small squeak that sounded like it belonged to a raccoon and traced the end of the pen across my lips. It didn't take long for me to notice that it looked like Comrade was staring at my mouth. The two of us started to melt into the library's silence, but I couldn't resist continuing to stare into Comrade's eyes. No matter how many times I tried looking away, I kept hearing the sound of my own voice echoing in my brain, telling me, ' _He makes you feel secure. Face it, y_ _ou don't want to look away from him._ ' By this point, I decided to forget about the pen, dropping it down to the table. For the first time in God knows how long, I could've sworn there was innocence glistening in my eyes - _actual_ innocence, not fake.

And suddenly, the Reality Check started to slowly lean towards me. To me, it seemed like his attention was still on my lips, as if he was in some type of trance. For a moment, I managed to drag my eyes away from his, tracing my gaze down until it landed on his lips. My mouth watered a little. At the same time, my heart felt like it was beginning to pick up the pace, skipping a couple of beats every few seconds. Then ... Comrade froze and made eye contact with me again, raising an eyebrow.

I pursed my lips and arched an eyebrow back, mimicking him. Our noses were inches away from touching.

A few seconds of silence went by before Comrade sent me another one of his typical, rebellious grins. After that, he shifted his head a little to the side and muttered close to my ear, "I need to borrow your bag." Immediately, I raised my arched eyebrow a little more, making it clear that I was asking, ' _How come?_ ' My sling bag might as well have been my most valuable possession. It was like my artwork didn't even compare to it. I could always redraw pictures and find ways to make them better. But my bag was a different story. No matter where I went, I always made sure that I had it with me ... after all, you never know when something might happen.

"I have some _stuff_ in my knapsack that I need to give to you ... and I sure as hell _want_ to get it all out of my possession." Comrade whispered. He even used his fingers to add air quotes when he said the word 'stuff,' and his smirk broadened. "Don't get me wrong though. I'm sure that I would look pretty damn irresistible in see-through lace and silk undergarments; but I'm afraid that you and I don't share the same size."

That time, I failed to hold my laughter back, throwing my hand up to my mouth and feeling the amusement race through my body. Turns out, it didn't take long for me to draw the attention of the Prom Queen, the Rebel, and the Dweeb. At the sight of them staring at me and Comrade - the Snob having her eyes narrowed in disapproval, Bender looking like he was trying to figure out what was going on, and Brian battering his eyes in confusion - I curled my hand into a fist and pretended that I'd really been coughing. Of course, it was obvious that they weren't going to fall for it, but at least it was enough to get them to turn away and go back to minding their own business.

"The next time Roxanne goes shopping for you," Comrade said after I glanced back at him, "would it kill you to make a request for granny panties and baggy T-shirts instead of lace boy shorts and lingerie?"

In less than a second, my eyes gleamed with mischievousness and my lips peeled back, forming a huge smirk. It spread practically ear-to-ear across my face, exposing my dimples and a lot of my teeth as a few remaining snickers escaped from my system. I flung my hands down to my lap, straightening my back against the back of my seat as I folded them together against my ankle-length skirt. My hair framed the sides of my face, and a few strands of my scruffy bangs were already sticking against my forehead again as I lip synced the words, ' _Don't act like you have a problem with it, Reality Check._ ' I then tilted my head a little over to the side, sending Comrade a wink.

He opened his mouth to say something back, but before he could get a word out, Roxy spoke up with her accent was drenched in seriousness.

"Comrade, you _need_ to sit back down in your chair _right now._ Mr. _Vermin_ will be walking back through those doors at any minute."

"All right, all right. I'm coming." Comrade assured. He untangled his legs from underneath him, shifting out of his Indian position and hopping off from my table. After that, he turned back around, staring down at me with his shoulder-length hair dangling perfectly in his face. "Well, Al? Am I going to have to keep carrying around your _special items,_ or am I allowed to borrow your bag?"

Still smirking at the thought of him wearing silk boxers, I nodded and retrieved my gray bag from where it was slumped on the floor, handing it over.

A sly grin spread across Comrade's face. He slipped the strap over his head and flipped his hair back. "Well, Basket Case..." Comrade then bent over and planted a gentle kiss against my forehead, right before he sent me a playful wink. "Pleasure doing business with you."

I could've sworn I felt a wave of heat tingle across my cheeks, and my smirk broadened a little.

Suddenly, the sound of another door creaking open in the hallway erupted through the air. With no hesitation, my grin vanished from my face; the Princess and Roxy straightened themselves up in their chairs, just as Brian, Bender, and the Athlete shot their attention in the direction of the library's main door. Comrade's eyes widened a little, and he mumbled a quick word in Russian - which I'm pretty sure meant 'shit' - under his breath before he sprinted back over to his chair. As soon as he plopped down beside Roxy, there was literally a split second left to spare before the door flew open and Dick came strolling back in. Damn, took him long enough to find the bathroom key.

That same cold glare was still printed on his face, showing no signs of vanishing. For a moment, the Principal remained silent, cuffing his arms behind his back as he glanced around at me and the other detainees to make sure that nothing had been moved out of place since he left. His bitter eyes continued to jump back and forth from Comrade to Bender, targeting them with his scowl before he glanced around at the rest of us.

"All right, we're going to make this fast." Vernon growled. "All of you, up on your feet. Right now. Come on, let's get this over with."

* * *

 **A/N: And another chapter is finished! :D :D**

 **I hope you all enjoyed it! :) :) Keep in mind, I'm wrapping up my final nine weeks of my junior year and I get out of school on June 1st. I'm _not_ quitting any of my stories no matter what, so don't worry about that. I've just been busy these past few months. Nonetheless, I'll _never_ abandon my writing. :)**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter, everyone! :D Until then, happy reading and writing to you all! :D**

 **God bless! :) :) :D :D**

 **THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!**


	6. Shut up, Bender

**A/N: Hey, everyone! :)**

 **Who is ready for another chapter? I hope you are all as excited as I am! :D**

 **Though, before we begin, I would like to thank all of the people who added this story to their favorites and follows. I would also like to thank Applejax XD for reviewing the previous chapter. It means a lot, so thank you very much! :) :) I would also like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read my work. It means a lot. You are all awesome! :D :D**

 **Remember, reviews make my day. I appreciate each and every one of them. My goal still stands at getting at least four reviews per chapter, so feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. :)**

 **Also, in case any of you are wondering, my birthday was _awesome_. It was on May 25th and I had a blast! :D**

 **Fun Fact: "The Breakfast Club" was originally supposed to be called "The Lunch Bunch."**

 **Well, I think that's all I wanted to share. It's time for you all to sit back, relax, and enjoy the chapter! :D**

 **Happy reading, everybody! Please review! :) :)**

* * *

Comrade's POV

The walk to the bathroom was as boring as shit. I walked behind Claire and Andrew, staring dully at the ground with my knapsack tossed over my shoulder and Allison's bag pinned at my hip. Beside me, Roxy was walking with her attention straight ahead and hand placed firmly on Allison's shoulder; and behind us, Brian was uneasily eyeing Bender every few seconds, making sure to keep distance between them. Vernon was in the front, still walking like he had a wedgie with the squeaking of his shoes echoing through the vacant halls.

By the time we strolled by the cafeteria, I jammed my fists into the pockets of my worn out jeans and began to kick around a dented Pepsi can that had been left behind. It clinked against the floor, repeatedly flinging back and forth between my feet like a soccer ball. I could feel the Jock's annoyed eyes puncturing through me as he glared over his shoulder, pursing his lips and biting down on his bottom one to prevent cursing me out in front of the Principal.

"Mr. Alexandrov!" Speaking of the gray-haired devil... "Unless you want another week added on to your current eight, I highly suggest you _stop_ _screwing around!_ "

I rolled my eyes at the old man's back, right before I glanced up at the ceiling in exasperation. Then, as I carelessly clicked my tongue a single time, I flicked up my middle finger.

"Остановить свинчивание вокруг, да?" I muttered under my breath. A vague note of amusement was now laced into my voice. "Похоже что-то мама Бендера говорит ему каждую ночь." _'Stop screwing around, huh? Sounds like something Bender's mom tells him every night.'_

Eventually, after passing dozens of secured classrooms and personalized lockers, we arrived at the restrooms. It was about time too, because the redhead looked like she was about to wet herself at any second. Her legs were crossed, her cheeks were flushed, and she was shaking a little in her pricey looking boots. Well, what do you know? Even the 'perfect' Princess of Shitty Shermer blushed from embarrassment.

Dick reached into his blazer and pulled out a small key, almost seeming like he was taking his time to unlock the door to the boys' lavatory before he did the same to the girls'. "All right, I'm going to be waiting right out here. Remember, absolutely _no_ shenanigans of any kind are permitted." Vernon sharply narrowed his eyes, flashing the same warning scowl at the seven of us before taking a few extra glances at me and Bender. I quietly scoffed, and the Principal stared icily at me again before he lured his gaze down to his watch. "Boys, you got four minutes. Girls, you got five. Get to it. _Now._ "

I shot a quick glance Allison's direction. At the same time, she turned her head towards me and raised her eyebrows, as if she was saying, "You don't have to worry. I'll take care of Roxy." I gave a small nod in return, right before I gently rested my hand on my sister's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. After all, this was definitely not the first time she would need assistance in the bathroom; and I could only imagine how uncomfortable that must have been for her to deal with.

Keeping a straight face, I purposely nudged my shoulder into the Diva, shoving her aside. At first, she nearly tripped over her own feet and sent me a look of astonishment; but then, while regaining her balance and straightening herself back up, she narrowed her sassy eyes and glared like she had just caught me rummaging through her purse.

I teasingly shrugged and walked into the boys' restroom, as if I hadn't done anything. Within seconds, Bender, Andrew, and Brian followed. I swear, I've seen plenty of nicer bathrooms in gas stations back in Russia. Posters dating back to some Halloween costume dance - at which Roxy and I weren't in Chicago yet - and last month's talent show decorated the blue-brick walls. The stalls were covered in endless scribbles of graffiti and draped with toilet paper, hanging over the tops and trailing across the tile floor. As for the urinals, most of them were surrounded by small puddles of pee - damn guys at this school _really_ need to learn how to aim - and covered with even more messy scatters of obscene language. Hardened pieces of chewed up gum and rotten Band-Aids were gathered together in some of the sinks; and the mirrors were smudged in dozens of fingerprints.

It looks like Carl never got the chance to clean this part of the school yet. The smell of sweat, decaying lunch meat (don't ask), and - do I even need to say it? - lingered in the air, almost making me cringe.

"This is _sick,_ " I sneered in disgust and rolled my electric blue eyes. "I swear, _gas stations_ are provided with far better bathrooms."

"You should know," Bender remarked. A sly grin that just made me want to punch him in the throat curled up on the corners of his lips. "After all, _you_ and your people have to binge drink your vodka _somewhere_."

At the sound of that, my cheeks instantly flared up. I bitterly narrowed my, gritting my teeth together behind my closed lips. "Keep in mind, _John_ ," I tauntingly stretched out the Criminal's name, drenching it in scorn. "I'm _really_ not in the mood to listen to _anymore_ of your bullshit today. You hear me? It's bad enough that I'm going to have to put up with Mr. _Vermin_ being on my ass for the rest of this damn detention. That man is such a freakin' bastard."

Andrew rolled his eyes, his arms crossed. "Well, _maybe_ if you would just _keep your smartass opinions to yourself,_ he would actually consider going easier on us."

I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, right before I mockingly flipped my hair back and turned my head. "Hey. Sporto." I said, putting on a noticeably fake smile. For a moment, I paused, letting the Athlete, the Nerd, and the Delinquent get an eyeful of my staged grin before I allowed my blunt glare to return. "Do me a favor, go choke on a jockstrap." I growled.

Brian's jaw dropped, hanging in disbelief. His sensitive, toddler-like eyes were huge and full of nervousness as he watched the Jock puncture me with a warning scowl. Though, instead of saying anything back, Andrew uncrossed his arms and impatiently shook his head as he began to approach the urinals. Everything became quiet, but it didn't take long for the silence to be shattered.

"Russian Massacre." Bender gave me a rough shove in the back of my shoulder. It wasn't hard enough to inflict any pain, but it did cause me to stumble forward just by a little step. My eyes widened in a mixture of shock and fury, and I slowly spun myself around of my heels. The Criminal was staring directly at me with a murderous glare now plastered on his face. His deep brown eyes were huge, swarming with darkness and looking like they were trying to slither underneath my skin.

Almost instantly, Andrew froze in his tracks and turned back around, just as I viciously scowled back at Bender.

"C-come on, fellas," Brian piped up, clearly still anxious, "let's - uh - keep our hands to ourselves, okay?"

Nonetheless, Bender and I refused to acknowledge him. Andrew, on the other hand, eyed Brian for a couple of seconds, remaining silent before he flicked his attention back over to me and the bitchy Rebel.

"I have a bone to pick with you." Bender sneered. There was still distance between us (thank God for that), but I could easily detect the stale scent of cigarettes on his breath. It was absolutely _disgusting_ \- just like everything else about him.

"Yeah?" I sarcastically raised my eyebrows, making them vanish under my bangs. "Get in line, Rebellion 101. In case you haven't been off your dope long enough to notice, half of the people in this pathetic school have some type of problem with me. But do you _really_ think I give a damn?"

Bender took a step closer to me, the bold glint in his eyes growing sharper. "Well, Russian Massacre, if you know what's good for you, you will shut your damn mouth and listen to what I have to say." He shot his index finger out and jabbed me in the chest a single time. "Let's start by stating the obvious, shall we? I don't give the tiniest piece of shit about your ass. I don't care about what you did or how you acted while you were back in Russia. But now that you're _here,_ you better get it through your head that this is _my_ school. Not yours."

I didn't think twice before grabbing his wrist, but before I could tighten my grip more, Bender yanked his arm back and positioned it like he was threatening to backhand me. I could've sworn a piece of me flinched ... and that only pissed me off more. At the sight, Brian stiffened and his eyes expanded once again, making him look like a scared bobble head. As for Andrew, he straightened his lips and tightened his jaw - but I wasn't sure if it was because he was starting to grow uneasy or because he had enough and was getting ready to intervene.

I narrowed my eyes again. "Touch me again and I promise you, I won't hesitate to rip your damn arm out of its socket."

An entertained smirk cracked across Bender's face, and he lightly chuckled. "I'd like to see you try." Then, as he dropped his arm back down to his side, his amusement vanished and his bitter glare reappeared. "Face it, Russian Roulette ... you are all talk and _no_ action."

"Do you _really_ want to put that theory to the test, John?" I asked as I mockingly tilted my head a little to the side.

Bender pressed his lips tightly together, clearly pissed at how I was starting to address him by his first name. Though, instead of reacting to my sarcastic question, the Criminal continued to speak like I hadn't said anything at all.

"With a principal like Dick constantly breathing down my neck and having all of these other pathetic classmates surrounding me, I used to think that this damn place couldn't possibly get any shittier ... but then _you_ showed up." Bender sneered, coldly eyeing Brian and Andrew at the mention of the 'other pathetic classmates' before he turned his attention back towards me. "Whether you like it or not, asshole, you don't belong here. This school isn't for you and _it never will be._ "

His words echoed in my head, stretching around my brain and prodding at my last nerve. It was like he rephrased everything that Andrew had said to him earlier - about how Shitty Shermer wouldn't be any different if he just vanished out of nowhere, - and the Rebel was now using it against me. Even after I technically stood up for him, that son of a bitch was purposely trying to piss me off by telling me that _I_ was the one who really didn't belong here! It was bad enough that I had to deal with what Sporto had said to me earlier. According to him, I could just die and nobody would give a damn; so, I _really_ wasn't in the mood to put up with Bender's bullshit.

"You know what, Bender?" I maintained a monotone voice, but my glare exposed just how angry I was. "Now that I think about it, Jockstrap - for the first time in his life - actually made a pretty good point. You really _could_ disappear forever and it wouldn't matter the slightest bit." After slightly readjusting the strap of my knapsack on my shoulder, I casually shrugged. "If anything, everybody in this school would be able to sleep better at night with you gone."

A familiar, faint spark of hurt shot quickly across Bender's eyes, but his rage overpowered it. "Well, unlike you, _I_ have a real reason to be here. This school needs me, and it sure as hell doesn't need you _._ "

"Right," I sarcastically nodded, despite how his words sent a tiny twinge of discomfort through my body, "that's right, Bender. Go ahead and keep tellin' yourself that. Who knows ... maybe sooner or later, _you'll_ even start to believe it."

The Delinquent impatiently narrowed his eyes at me, but when he didn't say anything back, I flicked my attention over to the Athlete and then the Brain. Both of them were still staring at us, waiting to see what would happen next.

I rolled my eyes, slightly readjusting the strap of my knapsack. "What are you two morons staring at? The show is over." I sneered, right before I turned my head back towards Bender. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take a leak before Dick says our time is up."

Brian - despite how I wasn't paying much attention to him - straightened his lips and gave me a little, spineless nod like he was apologizing. After that, as if he literally just remembered why we were in the restroom, he quickly waddled into the nearest stall and closed the door behind him. I, on the other hand, nudged past Bender and headed to the stall that was the furthest one back - the last one in the row. However, when I reached the stall, I couldn't help but notice the words 'I don't like Mondays' scraped into the wall. It made me falter a little, bringing back unpleasant memories that made a small piece of me cringe. Dammit, how come that never got covered up yet?

"Hey, Russian Roulette." The sound of Bender's voice snapped me out of it. I tore my attention away from the wall and gazed over at him, already scowling. It was almost like I had forgotten all about the message. "If you're going to take a piss, then why don't you just use a urinal?" Bender asked, the tone of his voice clearly mocking me. "What's the matter? Are you _insecure?_ "

I scoffed, beginning to wonder if I should throw a punch at Bender now and deal with Mr. Vernon later. "Actually, Rebellion 101, if you must know, I'm just _looking out_ for you and Sporto. After all, I wouldn't want to make you guys _jealous._ "

Without waiting for a reaction this time, I entered the graffiti-covered stall and shut the door behind me. After locking it, I slumped back against it and silently drew in a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. My chest wavered a little as the words 'I don't like Mondays' continued to scratch at a tiny section of my brain.

"Come on, Comrade," I muttered to myself as I released the breath I'd been holding, "just ignore it ... it's just a few damn words. They're meaningless ... that phrase means _nothing._ "

I nodded at my own words, taking a moment to draw in a few more comforting breaths before I quickly crossed myself and pushed the message aside completely. It flushed out of my mind - no pun intended, - and after confirming that there were no puddles of urine around me, I dropped my knapsack down to the floor. Then, after I slipped off Allison's sling bag, I lowered myself down onto one of my knees and placed it carefully beside mine. The heavy scents of vodka and cigars almost instantly smacked me in the face, making my nose crinkle.

I knew by heart that the Basket Case was responsible for the smell of alcohol, considering she drank on a regular basis to distract herself from feeling unwanted and becoming bored. But the cigars came from her father - a hotheaded business man who always talked on the phone, wore expensive suits like he was a member of the Standish family, and slept around with God knows how many of his coworkers. He was hardly ever home, but when he _was,_ he was either arguing with his wife or slapping Allison around. There were even some nights when I witnessed the domestic abuse by just looking out my bedroom window.

Though, Allison's mom was a slightly different story. Being the Queen of Denial, she refused to believe that her husband was constantly cheating on her and spent nearly all of her time idolizing nature. She was obsessed with wearing floral dresses, hundreds of beaded bracelets, and translucent scarves around her head. Not only that, but she must've felt compelled to describe auras, bright colors, handicrafts, and how glorious the world was - because that's literally all she talked about. I swear, she spent more time taking care of her _massive_ garden than taking more time to care for her own daughter.

Unfortunately, there were still times - most of them occurring after arguing with her husband - when Mrs. Reynolds would take her anger out on the Basket Case. She would stomp into Allison's room, grab her by her hair or shoulders, violently shake her around, and scream about how she was a mistake that should've been aborted. There were even moments when Mrs. Reynolds would rip up Allison's most recent pictures and throw the shreds in her face when the image was no longer recognizable.

So, if it's not already obvious, there were absolutely no words that could possibly describe how much I _despised_ Allison's parents. They _really_ pissed me off...

Reminding myself that Vernon had given us a time-limit, I opened my knapsack and immediately began to scoop out handfuls of the tampons, lacy panties, and matching bras. It only took me about twenty seconds to unload all of 'merchandise' from my knapsack and jam it into Allison's awaiting bag. I let out a deep breath, relieved that that deed was done, and puffed my bangs out of my face for the millionth time. I'm not trying to sound like the Princess or anything, but taming this hair sounded like a pretty good idea.

I slid off my leather jacket, baring the dozens of scars that were printed on my arms, and tucked it away into my knapsack. After that, I untangled my black-and-green flannel from around my waist and slipped it on. Then, I reached into one of the pockets of my worn out jeans and it luckily contained a hair tie. With it, I pulled all of my hair back and styled it into a small ponytail that rested against the nape of my neck. Damn, sometimes I forget about how different I look with my hair tied back, considering my face was actually able to be seen.

"Two minutes, boys!" Mr. Vernon's voice erupted from the opposite side of the bathroom door.

I rolled my eyes, mumbling some 'polite terms' under my breath in Russian before I helped myself back up from the floor and undid my zipper. When I was finished relieving myself, I zipped my jeans back up, flushed the toilet, and slipped Allison's sling bag back over my head before throwing my knapsack back over my shoulder. Finally, I exited the stall and refused to take the tiniest peek at the message on the wall.

Brian and Andrew were at the sinks, keeping their distance from each other as they washed their hands. Bender must've been in a stall, considering I didn't see him.

The Jock glanced up at the mirror at the sound of my approach, but after seeing that it was just me, he went back to washing his hands like I wasn't worth his time. The Nerd, on the other hand, had just finished and was now trying to the paper towel dispenser to spit out some paper towels by slapping it like a five-year-old girl. Not a day could go by without those lame things getting jammed.

"Oh, come on ... please work, _please..._ " Brian murmured with a childish pleading expression plastered on his face. "I only need _one_ paper towel. Come on, just _one?_ "

I turned my head and stared at him, the look on my face making it look like I was saying, 'You've _got_ to be freakin' kidding right now...'

"Come on, come on..." Brian smacked the dispenser a few more times, resulting in Andrew peeking over and cocking an eyebrow at him. " _Please?_ "

Not knowing how much longer the Dweeb was willing to keep up this annoying one-sided conversation, I had enough. After about another five seconds, I positioned my arm in the shape of a 'V' and rammed my elbow roughly up against the side of the paper towel dispenser. An echoing _BANG_ filled the air, causing Andrew's eyes to widen and Brian to jump back, both clearly from being caught off guard; but I didn't even wince, despite the minor discomfort that was now tingling through my elbow.

The dispenser, as soon as I hit it, finally spit out some paper towels.

"U-um ... thanks." Brian said, staring at me with his bottom lip nervously quivering a little. Though, he tried to hide it by pressing his lips together.

I said nothing back and glanced down at the sink I was standing at. After turning one of the squeaky handles, I cuffed my hands together under the faucet and started splashing some cold water in my face, now trying to clear my mind from my nightmare. It's been five years since that evening happened ... and yet, part of me could've sworn that I could still feel my old man's arm wrapped around my neck, pinning me against him and choking me. I could still hear his intoxicated voice ringing in my head, yelling and toying around with my impatience just like it did when he was actually here.

" _Get a grip, Comrade,_ " I thought to myself as I dried my face off with my sleeve, " _i_ _t was just a stupid nightmare ... just forget about it. That was five whole years ago. No use thinking about it now._ "

Suddenly, Jockstrap tore a paper towel out of the dispenser, snapping me out of my thoughts. I drew in a sharp breath through my nose, startled for a moment; but after noticing that it was only Andrew, the dark memories of mine and Roxy's past ... and I'm not referring to just the nightmare ... gradually started to bury themselves in my brain to hide for later.

"God, you _really_ need to relax." I grumbled to myself, sounding just as blunt as always. "You're not _there_ anymore ... you're _fine._ "

"Hey, do either of you know what time it is?" Sporto asked, watching as I squirted some soap into my hands and began scrubbing my knuckles. From the corner of my eye, I shot him a cold stare, making it clear that I sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to answer him. In return, he rolled his eyes and glanced over at the Wimp, who had just gotten himself some paper towels.

"Oh, uh ... it's, um..." Brian, after realizing that he was being turned to, glanced down at his watch. "Eleven minutes past ten."

I froze for a second, raising an eyebrow in confusion; but then, I remembered what Brian had done to his watch. He had fiddled around with it earlier, getting it to match the time that was advertised on the library's massive clock. Though, if only he and the other detainees knew that _that_ clock was twenty minutes fast. Hell, even _I_ knew that and I've only been at this school for three-almost-four months. Hopefully, the rest of them will catch on soon.

Andrew, with no particular emotion showed on his face, nodded a little in Brian's direction, as if he was saying thanks.

Then, just as I continued to wash my hands, the sound of a stall door opening caught my attention. I glanced up in the mirror and watched through the glass as Bender strolled out from one of the other further back cubicles, pulling his zipper up in the process. In what seemed like less than a second, he stopped in his tracks and turned his head like he had sensed me staring at him. At first, I thought that he was going to give me the stink eye for having the final word in our argument; but I was proven wrong when his lips transformed into a mischievous smirk.

In return, I rolled my eyes and dropped my attention back down to the sink, washing between my fingers. Whatever he was planning, I wasn't going to let him drag me into it.

"So, Russian Roulette..." Bender spoke up in a rhetorical tone. I shook my head in annoyance, but kept quiet as he continued. "That girl who's with you today ... she's _your sister?_ "

Immediately, I stopped focusing on washing my hands and snapped my head back up, practically giving myself whiplash. My eyes were huge, swarming with deadly seriousness as I stared at the Criminal through the reflection of the mirror. At the same time, Brian stopped drying his hands and slowly turned his head, examining Bender with his eyes overflowing with a mixture of nervousness and shock. Also, Andrew glanced over his shoulder from where he was now standing beside the trash bin and shot the Rebel a solid look that exclaimed, 'Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?'

"Yeah, she's _my sister,_ " I sneered, "but I don't recall giving _you_ permission to talk about her."

Bender flicked an eyebrow up, humoring me, and let out a small, mocking laugh. "Why would I need permission to talk about _your sister?_ " At his last two words, he mimicked my accent, making it sound more like he was a broken garbage disposal that was trying to choke down thick sludge.

"Oh, I don't know," I sarcastically raised my shoulders, shrugging as I turned the sink's faucet off, "maybe because I refuse to let _assholes_ like you get any ideas."

At the sound of me using extra emphasis while calling him an asshole, Bender narrowed his eyes and his smirk wavered a little. He slowly began to approach me, taking his precious time with every step as he nonchalantly flipped his hair back and slid his hands into the pockets of his denim jacket. I kept my eyes on the sink and watched the soapy water go down the drain, not wanting to look at the Delinquent for another second.

"What _kind_ of ideas?" Bender asked. I could practically hear his smirk broadening again. "You _really_ should work on getting your head out of the gutter. I was just thinking that she and I could start with engaging in a couple of make out sessions."

I bitterly narrowed my eyes, almost gagging from that mental picture. "Look, I'm not planning on wasting much more of my breath on _you_ of all people," I growled, looking at the Criminal through the glass again, "but you better forget about trying to pull _anything_ with my sister. She's _off limits_ to all three of you." To make my point clear, I also scowled at the Brain and the Athlete before dropping my attention back down to the sink. I can't wait for this damn detention to be over...

"Are you kidding me? Have you _seen_ that body of hers?" Bender snickered. I didn't need to see him to know that the naughty glint in his eyes had grown brighter. "There's no way in hell that a girl with _that_ many curves could be put off the market just because her _bitchy_ _brother_ said so."

I could feel my cheeks beginning to burn in anger. "Shut your damn mouth..." I snarled, keeping my eyes locked on an old Band-Aid that was decaying in the sink.

"I like the way she looks in that little denim skirt of hers. She's got a nice pair of legs," the Rebel remarked, "I bet she's _really_ flexible, if you know what I mean."

Suddenly, Andrew pushed himself off from where he'd been leaning against the wall. "Knock it off, Bender!" He ordered, flashing a threatening scowl. "Talking to him about his sister like that isn't funny! It's sick!"

However, Bender continued, showing no signs of acknowledging Wrestle Mania. I could feel his eyes on me, almost like they were trying to burn through the back of my head.

"Has she ever dug those long ... precious ... perfectly manicured nails of hers into a guy's back and listened to his moans all night long?" Satisfaction began to leak into his amused voice. "I bet she has."

I viciously narrowed my eyes again and tightened my jaw to the point where my face immediately began to ache. "Shut up, Bender..." I sneered.

Brian was still standing as still as a statue with his back up against one of the closer stalls, clutching his crumpled up paper towels in his hands like his life depended on it. His eyes were still large, nervously watching me, Bender, and Andrew like a frightened cat. A bright pink blush was smeared thickly across his cheeks, bringing out their whiteness and exposing just how pure and fragile his mind was.

"I like my girls _experienced,_ Alexandrov." At the word 'experienced', Bender moved a little closer and hissed it inches away from my ear before backing up again. "But lucky for your sister, I am willing to make some exceptions. If she somehow isn't experienced at all ... l will be _more than happy to_ explore every. Last. Inch. Of her innocence."

The corners of my lips tore back, revealing my tightly clenched teeth. My heart was picking up the pace, beating so violently to the point where I could've sworn its outline could be seen through my skin and clothes. This shithead was entering _beyond_ dangerous territory...

"That's enough, Bender!" Andrew exclaimed, just as I smacked my hands flat down against the counter in a miserable attempt to control my rage. "You're making him mad! Back off!"

This time, the Rebel spared a moment to turn his head and stare disdainfully at the Athlete, as if he was saying, 'This conversation doesn't consult you, asshole. Mind your own business.' Bender then glanced back at me, and his devious grin returned to his face as he kept going.

"Her skin looks so soft and and delicate ... but underneath all of those clothes, I bet she's hiding plenty of secret love bites and claw marks from _you._ "

I started to slowly shake my head, scraping the tips of my nails against the surface of the counter. My heart rate was getting even faster, making my chest feel like it was about to explode.

" _Shut ... up..._ " I growled in a much more impatient tone.

At this point, I couldn't tell if Bender was still entertained or beginning to grow pissed at how I was continuously telling him to shut up.

His dark brown eyes hardened like two stones. "Or what?" The Criminal then shoved me in the back, nearly causing me to slip and hit my forehead against the sink. "What will you do, Russian Roulette? Go complain to your sister about me? You know, it isn't _my_ fault that she's probably got more moves than a playboy model ... but I wouldn't mind testing that out for you." He finished with a suggestive wink, just as another perverted smirk curled up on just one of the corners of his lips.

"G-guys!" Brian blurted out, stuttering just like usual. "I - uh - think we should head back to the - um - library now..."

Nonetheless, the closest reaction he got was a glance from Andrew. Other than that, he was left unheard.

I slowly cranked my head back up, glaring fiercely into the mirror. By this point, I felt so hot that it was like I was surrounded by wild flames in the deepest part of hell. My face was beating a violent shade of red, almost perfectly resembling a demon's.

"I'm warning you, Bender..." I seethed through my teeth. "You're already far down on a dangerous path with me ... so I highly suggest that you _shut your damn mouth_ before I make you regret ever opening it."

For a moment, Bender remained silent, watching me with deep satisfaction etched across his smug face. However, as soon as I dropped my attention back down to the sink, I heard the sound of the Criminal's chain jingling at his side as he approached me a little more. The thick smell of his cheap cologne made me almost want to hurl - and that's saying something when you're standing in such a shitty bathroom.

"Speaking of mouths, your sister sure has a big one." Bender spoke up once again, now sounding like he was standing directly behind me - too close for my liking. Then, he decided to kick his lewd remarks up a notch more by leaning a little close to my ear again as he added, "I could tell her _a couple of things_ to do with it."

And that's when I couldn't take it anymore ... something inside of me snapped. In less than a second, I spun around and flew my hand back, curling my fingers into a tight fist before punching the Delinquent at the speed of lightning right in the mouth. Pain electrocuted through my fist, making a piece of me remember the part of my dream in which I had punched my old man; but I didn't even wince. Bender staggered back a couple of steps and flew his gloved hand up to his mouth, releasing a strained groan. I knew for a fact that the impact was strong enough to cause pain, but not enough to fracture anything.

Brian let out a stunned gasp, leaving his mouth gaping open as he threw his hands up to his shoulders like he had just witnessed a robbery. At the same time, Andrew's eyes widened in disbelief, as if he of all people had never witnessed a fight break out between any of his classmates before. Hell, I bet those wrestlers bitch-slapped each other while arguing over who had the best tube socks.

I could feel the wetness of blood smeared across my knuckles; and sure enough, as I watched Bender lower his hand from his face, it was revealed that a river of blood was leaking out from the left corner of his lips. His eyes were larger than I've ever seen them before, drowning in rage.

"What's the matter, John?" I asked as I mockingly tilted my head a little to the side. Minor amusement dripped from my accent. "I'm sorry, did that hurt? Did you feel a little bit of pain? Because that's what worthless shitheads like you deserve!"

Bender's lips tore back, exposing nearly all of his grinding teeth ... and then, he charged me. "You son of a bitch!" The Criminal rammed his body into mine, almost kneeing me in the crotch as he grabbed my arms with a grip of steel. I immediately attempted to pull them away, but I ended up losing my balance from the unexpected tackle and fell back onto the counter. The back of my head slammed into the mirror - surprisingly not breaking it - and Bender leaned over me as he started to dig his sharp knuckles into my stomach and ribs, punching me repeatedly. I let out an ear-splitting scream, feeling the pain surge through my body.

"Get the hell off of me, you asshole!" I bellowed by the eighth punch, right before I backhanded the darker-haired teen clear across the face. An echoing _SMACK_ filled the air, accompanied by a furious "OW!" from Bender. In return, he flung his fist back and plowed it directly into my nose, causing my head to fly back and hit the mirror again. "AH, SHIT!" I yelled to the point where I stung my throat, and I violently kicked Bender in the gut as I added, "DAMN YOU!" He released my wrists and stumbled back, exclaiming every word in the book. Now was my chance to climb off from the counter.

As soon as I did, the Criminal - with his cheeks stained bright red - stopped rubbing where my foot had struck him and started to storm towards me again. At the same time, I didn't think twice before beginning to approach him, already prepared to throw some more punches. Then, just as I thought that Bender and I were going to come face-to-face with each other, the two of us froze in our tracks as Sporto suddenly slid in between us. The shock was gone from his face, as if it was never there, and replaced by utter seriousness.

"You two boneheads are out of control!" he snapped, still sticking to that so-called insult. "Get a hold of yourselves before Vernon comes in here and punishes all four of us!"

Bender and I kept our murderous glares locked on each other, refusing to give the tiniest shit about what the Jock just said.

"Your ass is dead meat, Russian Massacre!" Bender barked, not even bothering to wipe the blood away from his mouth as it continued to rain down his chin. "Do you _really_ think that you can lay your hands on me and get away with it?"

"Well, maybe that'll teach you to think twice before talking about my sister!" I bellowed. I tried pushing myself forward, but Andrew kept holding me back, causing me to result to the next best thing. I straightened my lips, making a small hacking sound and pretending to clear my throat before I spat out a thick wad of saliva. It darted past Jockstrap at the speed of lightning, missing his nose by just a few inches, and splattered wetly against Bender's cheek. Dammit, I was aiming for his eye!

Andrew - clearly aggravated to death by this point - gave me a shove in the chest that was 'a little' harder than necessary. I stumbled back a couple of steps, but continued to watch Bender as he - with his face now practically on fire - immediately started trying to tear his way through Wrestle Mania to get to me. Out of reflex, Andrew pinned his side against the Criminal in some sort of wrestling position in an attempt to keep him back. It worked for about five seconds, despite how he had to eagerly keep his perfectly white sneakers from sliding across the floor. However, after that, Bender roughly nudged Andrew out of the way and lunged at me, yelling in a voice that might as well have been demonic, "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"

He threw his arms around my waist and rammed his head against my left set of ribs, sending us both toppling down to the floor. Pain electrocuted through my left side, but then rapidly spread all the way up to my head as Bender plowed his fist into my face, slamming me in the cheek and then in the nose again. By this point, blood was gushing from my nostrils and I was screaming every nasty word and insult that I could think of at the top of my lungs in Russian. With no hesitation, I retaliated by punching the Rebel across the face again, right before I reached up and grabbed his shoulders with a solid grip. My nails practically tore into the fabric of his jacket, and I kneed him in the stomach as hard as I could five times in a row. Bender screamed - more from his anger than the pain.

"Guys, stop!" Andrew bellowed as he quickly raced over to where Bender and I were fighting. "This is ridiculous! Knock it off!" Furious, the Athlete grabbed a fistful of my sleeve in one hand and a fistful of the Criminal's in the other. He managed to yank me up onto my ass and Bender onto his knees, but after that, Bender and I - while keeping our vicious eyes on each other - ripped our arms away and shoved Jockstrap so hard that he lost his balance and almost fell back into one of the stalls. Still watching, Brian couldn't help but release an ear-splitting shriek that sounded like it belonged to a five-year-old girl. Though, Andrew managed to grab a hold of a stall door just in time, saving himself from falling headfirst into the murky toilet.

I quickly attempted to scramble back up onto my feet, but Bender reached out and snatched a hold of my shirt, clenching it so tightly in his fist to the point that it looked like his knuckles were about to pop. A loud _RIP_ filled the air as the Delinquent then hauled me back down to the ground, but I didn't care to pay much attention to it. The two of us continued to fire punches, seething and screaming things like "GO TO HELL!" and "YOU'RE DEAD!" in each others faces like tomorrow didn't exist. Unfortunately, just as I was beginning to think that this bathroom break couldn't _possibly_ get any worse, the door flew open and Mr. Vernon came barging in, bellowing, "What in the hell is going on in here?"

"Принял вас достаточно долго, Дик!" I almost instantly exclaimed, now in the middle of trying to break one of my wrists free from Bender's grip. ' _Took you long enough, Dick!'_ I then let out a strained yell as Bender tightened his fingers around my wrist even more, the evil satisfaction in his eyes making it believable that he was trying to cut off my circulation.

At the sight of us - now on the floor with blood splattered across our knuckles, mouths, and noses - Vernon's eyes shot gigantic. "What the - Mr. Alexandrov! Mr. Bender! What in God's name do you think you two are doing?" His voice had reached a new level of fury, and his blazer flapped behind him as he ran over to where we were. "That is _enough!_ Do you two hear me? _Enough!_ Separate right this minute!" Dick grabbed Bender by the back of his jacket and me by my arm, hauling us back up onto our feet and somehow managing to keep us separated as we continued to try throwing some more swings at each other. "All right, all right!" Mr. Vernon barked, remaining sandwiched between us. "That's _ENOUGH!_ "

Reluctantly, Bender and I ceased our fighting and slowly lowered our fists, breathing hard. For a moment, everything was silent. Until...

"What are you two gawking at?" Vernon asked, flickering his furious eyes back and forth from Brian to Andrew. "There's nothing to see here! Go back to the library, don't make a sound, and take your seats, you hear me? Go!"

With no hesitation, the Wimp tossed his paper towels away and hightailed it out of the bathroom with the Athlete almost right behind him. Then, as soon as the door closed behind them, Dick stepped back from me and Bender and crossed his arms over his chest, scowling at us.

" _Oh, great,_ " I thought to myself with a sarcastic roll of my eyes, " _here comes another lecture..._ "

"What in the hell do you two think you were doing?" Vernon asked, sneering his words through his teeth like he had caught Bender and I trying to do something dirty. "You two think you were being funny? Just putting on a little show to make yourselves look tough and invincible in front of Clarke and Johnson, is that it? My God, I should've seen this coming from no-good bums like you. Engaging in a fight? On school property? _During a Saturday in detention?_ " At his last rhetorical question, he enhanced the sharpness of his voice to the point where I was surprised that it didn't shatter any of the mirrors and scoffed. "That's a scheme with your names written all over it."

Bender was in the middle of cleaning away the blood from his face with the inside of his jacket, making it look like he wasn't listening. I, on the other hand, rolled my eyes again and dropped my attention down to the floor, cursing under my breath in annoyance.

Vernon sharply narrowed his eyes and placed his hands on his hips. "I've had _enough_ of all of these shenanigans! From here on out, until the end of the school year, I expect to see you both sitting in the library by seven-oh-five _every Saturday._ No exceptions. And not only that, but I'll make sure that the second I get back to my office, I'll contact your paren-" The Principal stopped, watching as I quickly shot my head back up and made eye contact with him. He was still beating redder than a flame of fire and glaring, but at the sight of my widened eyes, he huffed and reconsidered his words. "I'll contact your _guardians_ and make sure to arrange home visits with them as soon as I get back to my office. I think they would be interested in hearing about this little _incident._ " At his final word, a note of amusement wrapped around his voice, and a cocky smirk curled up on the corners of his lips at the thought of getting me and Bender in trouble.

The Hoodlum scoffed. "Do you _really_ think my ma and old man will give a shit about this?" At first, when he said 'this', I thought he was referring to the fight; but then I noticed that he had pointed his thumb towards me.

I sharply narrowed my eyes, as if they were never huge, and quietly mumbled "Мудак..." under my breath. ' _Asshole..._ ' At the same time, the satisfaction on Mr. Vernon's face immediately started to crumble away, exposing the same heartless and bitter glare that was hiding underneath it - just waiting to be seen again. I swear, he was going to wear that look at his own funeral.

"They sure as hell _will_ give a shit when _I_ talk to them about it, Mr. Bender." Vernon snarled. He shot out his index finger and pointed at the Criminal, allowing a couple of seconds of silence to go by before he flicked his attention over to me. "Both of your families will be notified about this little bathroom break immediately. Neither of you are getting off the hook _that_ easy."

"That's _bullshit!_ I didn't even do anything wrong!" I snipped, keeping my eyes viciously narrowed as I motioned towards Bender. "It was _this_ bitch who started it! The only thing that I'm guilty of right now is standing my ground! And you have the nerve of punishing _me_ for committing in _self defense?_ What in the hell kind of school are you running here, _Dick?_ "

The second I addressed him as a bitch, Bender sent me a tense glare from the corner of his eye, warning me that this wasn't over between us.

"You better shut your damn mouth, Mr. Alexandrov!" Mr. Vernon ordered as he roughly jabbed me in the collarbone with his finger. I couldn't help but wince, stumbling back a small step. The Principal's eyes glistened with rage, refusing to tear away from me. "I've had it up to _here_ with all of your bullshit, you hear me? For _three months, e_ ver since you first moved here with your sister, all you've been doing is causing mischief and acting like you're on top of the world!" He made a gesture with his arms, indicating that 'the world' was really 'the whole school' in this case.

I vaguely rubbed where his finger had hit me in the collarbone, hiding my shock as he continued.

"Do you _actually_ believe that you own this place, Mr. Alexandrov?" A slight smirk fiddled around with the Principal's lips, and he breathed a quick, mocking laugh. "Do you _really_ think that you are worth something here? You are nothing but a bad seed - a damn troublemaker who's constantly starving for attention. That's all everyone here sees you as and that's how they'll always see you. No matter how 'cool' or 'tough' you think you are, everyone in this school believes otherwise."

I kept my eyes narrowed, staring at him like he didn't have a clue what he was talking about; but on the inside, I could feel my depression starting to seep out of hiding and charge through all of my veins.

"You can either accept that and get a hold of your bitchy attitude," Dick sneered, scowling again, "or for all I care, you can pack your bags and go back to Russia."

And just like that, my whole body tensed up, exposing my shock and making my heart take a huge leap in my chest. My eyes widened - catching a small glimpse of Bender staring at the Principal in utter disbelief as well. I've been told plenty of shitty things in the past, and a mild chunk of them came from my damn classmates and Vernon; but I've _never_ had anything said to me about leaving the state to go back to Russia. After everything that had happened back there, hell would have to freeze ever before I ever agreed to go back.

"All right, that's _it!_ " Mr. Vernon snapped. He finally started to jump his attention over towards the Hoodlum. "This lavatory break is _over!_ Get yourselves cleaned up and get back to the library. I'm going to go call your guardians to schedule those home visits. Hurry up! Shake your tail feathers!" Then, after glaring back and forth from me to Bender for about five more seconds, the Principal turned away and exited the bathroom, mumbling lame insults and a jumble of curse words to himself.

The cold glint returned to my eyes almost instantly. "К черту тебя, Дик..." I snarled under my breath. ' _To hell with you, Dick..._ ' After that, as I walked back over to the sinks, I reached behind my head and freed my hair from my now messy ponytail. My whole body ached, especially around my ribs from where Bender wouldn't stop punching me and in the middle of my back, which had slammed against the counter when the Criminal tackled me the first time. I was definitely going to earn some wicked bruises from this fight.

"Черт, этот сукин сын лучше надеяться, что он не работает на меня на улице..." I mumbled, referring to Bender as I studied my reflection in the mirror. ' _Damn, this son of a bitch better hope that he doesn't run into me on the streets..._ ' Nearly all of the lower half of my face - from the bottom of my nose, to the bottom of my chin - was smeared in blood. There were also some drops running down my cheeks, but judging how there were no cuts, I assumed that that blood belonged to Bender.

I scrubbed my knuckles clean under the sink's faucet, watching the blood wash off before I cuffed my hands together and splashed the cold water in my face. By the time I finished getting rid of all of the blood, it looked like I hadn't been involved in a fight at all. Just wait until the damn bruises started to form...

When I finished, I dried my face with my sleeve and pulled my hair back again, restyling it into a brand new ponytail. After that, as I made a move to adjust the collar of my flannel, I caught the sight of Bender staring at me through the glass. He had already wiped a majority of the blood away from his face with the inside of his jacket, but there was still some rimmed around his nostrils and dotted along the corners of his mouth. Aside from that, he had also received a small cut on the right side of his face, etched across his cheekbone. It was barely noticeable, but if I had to guess, it was caused by one of my nails.

I narrowed my eyes at him, still pissed about everything he had said about Roxy. "What are _you_ staring at?" I sneered after I finished fixing my collar.

The Criminal skeptically raised an eyebrow. "What happened to your side?" he asked.

For a moment, I froze in confusion; but then, as I glanced down at myself to check to see if Bender was just trying to mess with me, it came to my shocking realization that a part of my white T-shirt had been ripped during the fight. Right underneath my left set of ribs, there was a hole too large to avoid torn through the thin fabric ... and it exposed one of my long, irritated looking, bright red scars.

My eyes shot huge, looking like they were on the verge of popping out of my skull. I quickly pulled my flannel shut, holding it closer to me and crossed one of my arms over my stomach to keep it closed. Dammit, my grandma was going to kill me!

"None of your damn business." I snarled, refusing to look at Bender any longer. Then, without another word, I snatched my knapsack up from where I had dropped it to the floor and stormed out of the restroom, leaving the Hoodlum behind.

I _needed_ to get this scar covered as soon as possible.

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter complete! :D :D :) :)**

 **This one took _a lot_ of planning out. I hope you all enjoyed it! :) :)**

 **Please review! My goal still stands at getting at least four reviews per chapter. Please share your thoughts! I love feedback! :D :D**

 **ALSO : My family and I are leaving for another week-long trip at the end of June. That being said, I don't know how much time I'll be able to write during that time. Nonetheless, I'm _not_ giving up on this story or any of my writing, so don't worry about that. :) **

**Happy reading and writing to you all! Stay tuned for the next chapter, everyone! :) :) :D :D God bless!**

 **THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!**


	7. You're Just Feeling Sorry For Yourself

**A/N: What's up, my fantastic viewers? :D**

 **I hope you are all doing well. Who is ready for the next chapter? I know I am. :)**

 **Though, before we begin, I would like to thank Applejax XD, decadenceofmysoul, and emily88034 for reviewing the previous chapter. Thank you very much for the kind words! :D I would also like to thank everyone who has added this story to their favorites and follows, and who has taken the time to read this story so far. It really means a lot. You are all amazing! :D :D**

 **Remember, reviews make my day! My goal still stands at getting four reviews per chapter, so feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me! :) :)**

 **Fun Fact: Allison's "dandruff" in the movie was actually Parmesan Cheese.**

 **Well, I believe I've shared everything that I wanted to share. The time has come for you all to sit back, relax, and enjoy the next chapter! :D**

 **Happy reading, everyone! Please review! :) :) :D :D**

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Comrade's POV

I don't think I've ever been in such a hurry to get back to detention. I kept my flannel closed tightly around me, hiding the new hole in my T-shirt and my exposed scar as I fast-walked through the halls. There was no way in hell that I could afford having it seen by any of the other detainees. See, I could handle my grandmother lecturing me about how terrible and wrong it was to argue with the Principal, fight on school property, and damage the clothes she spent tons of money on; but not over the consequences on what could happen if my classmates started to pick up on my depression - especially so close to the end of the school year. It was bad enough that the Criminal - of all people - had managed to see one of my scars.

By the time I made it back to the library, the clock read 10:22 - which meant that it was really 10:02. Brian was standing beside a pillar and flipping through a crinkled magazine that looked like it had seen far better days. Andrew, on the other hand, had his leg prompt up between the bars of the railing and was in the middle of stretching. By the time I saw him reach down towards his calf and begin to rub his hands into his muscles, I flicked my attention over to Claire. She was staring blankly at her piece of paper, clearly trying to distract herself by doodling something on it. As I quickly strolled past her table - nudging the Athlete aside and earning a glare from him in the process, - I was able to notice that she had been adding tiny details to an outline of her hand. Which, by the way, looked like it had been created by a kindergartner.

Roxy was sitting back in her chair, still wearing her excessively dark glasses and eating the remains of her barbecue chips while she listened to some music from her Walkman. She had only one headphone in, leaving the other out so she could hear everything that was going on in the detention. And lastly, Allison was sitting on top of her table, swaying her dirty converse over the edge and watching her thumbs as she twirled them around on her lap. Just the one I needed to see.

I took the longer path around the tables, dropping my knapsack down to the floor beside my seat before I shuffled over to the Recluse. She had already turned her head and locked her eyes on me, as if she had sensed me approaching her. At first, she was wearing a satisfied smirk, no doubt from thinking about how she was the one who was now in possession of the few dozen extra monthly protectors and attractive undergarments. But then, as soon as she noticed that I was holding my flannel shut like my life depended on it, her mischievous grin wavered and her dark eyes glowed with confusion.

"Hey, Al." Keeping my flannel closed, I used my other arm to remove her gray sling from around me and held it out by the strap. "Here's your bag back. All of your new _items_ have been delivered. They're all in there."

A small grin twisted up on one of the corners of Allison's lips as she reached out and took her bag from me. Though, instead of opening it to examine all of her new belongings, she sat the bag aside and her smile faded from her face as she continued to eye my flannel. She raised an eyebrow in curiousness, as if she was asking through her silence, 'Do I dare ask about what you're hiding under there, Reality Check?'

"Yeah, um ... about that ..." I pressed my lips together, taking a quick scan around around at the other detention goers to make sure that none of them were watching. When I was positive that all of them were occupied, I turned my head back to Allison. "I need your help with something. It's urgent."

At my final word, the Basket Case's curiosity thickened and she slightly adjusted her posture, making it clear that she was bracing herself for whatever my serious issue was. Then, without another word from me, I pulled my flannel open and exposed the huge rip in my T-shirt, along with my long, deep red, unavoidable scar. In less than a second, Allison's jaw practically fell all the way down to the floor and her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. At the sight of her shock, I nodded my head a little.

" _Comrade,_ " Allison mouthed after the two of us made eye contact again, " _what in the hell happened?_ "

I rolled my eyes and quietly mumbled through somewhat clenched teeth, "Stupid John Bender happened." Just saying his name left a bad taste in my mouth, nearly making me gag. "He wouldn't stop running his damn mouth, saying all of this perverted shit about Roxanne on purpose just to piss me off, and ... I couldn't take it. He pushed me too far."

Allison narrowed her eyes a little at the mention of Bender talking about Roxy, but just as she opened her mouth to mumble something back, she was cut off from the sound of the main door opening. With no hesitation, the Basket Case dropped her attention back down to her lap while the other detainees and I snapped our heads in the direction of the library's entrance. At first, a piece of me thought that it was Mr. Vernon coming to check on us again; but instead, it was the Criminal returning from the bathroom. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he coolly strolled in, no longer showing any signs of previously being in a fight.

Roxy followed the sound of his footsteps, staring perfectly in his direction as she swallowed another mouthful of her chips and licked her fingers. As for the Princess, she rolled her eyes after noticing that it was just Bender and continued to work on her pathetic excuse of a drawing like he wasn't even there. I narrowed my eyes, scolding the Delinquent from over my shoulder as I watched him walk up the ramp. His chain jingled at his side, interrupting the silence. After a few seconds, Brian and Andrew glanced over at me, but while the Nerd looked more uneasy, the Athlete had this serious glint in his eyes, making it look like he was telling me, 'Don't you dare even _think_ about starting another fight!'

Then, after he and Brian went back to minding their own business, I shifted my attention back over to Bender. Until now, I hadn't noticed that he was staring right back at me with an irritated glare plastered on his face. His eyes were skeptical, but also coated with bitterness as he pulled his gloved hands out of his pockets and pushed himself up onto the librarian's desk, leaving his legs dangling over the edge. We stared at each other for about seven seconds before he slowly narrowed his eyes, reminding me that he wasn't planning on forgetting about what he saw on my side any time soon. Eventually, the Criminal looked away and stared down at this book that was resting beside his thigh. Without a word, he swiped it up and carelessly began to rip it apart.

I rolled my eyes again, muttering "Сукин сын..." under my breath before I glanced back around at Allison. At the same time, she peered up at me from the corner of her eye, waiting a moment before turning her head. ' _Son of a bitch..._ '

" _You two got into a fight?_ " the Basket Case asked, lip-syncing her words perfectly.

"Yeah." Despite how I was a master at lying, there was no point in trying to hide the truth from Allison. She knew me better than anyone else on the whole planet, aside from Roxy. Not only that, but she practically had a built-in lying detector. "I told him multiple times to shut up, he wouldn't listen, and I ended up throwing the first punch. We ended up fighting on the floor for about a minute before Vernon charged in and pulled us apart. Now, as punishment, Dick is scheduling a home visit to talk face-to-face with my grandparents and I'm expected to serve Saturday detention for the rest of the school year."

Allison's mouth fell open again, but she didn't look as shocked as she was when she first saw what Bender did to my shirt. Then, after reeling her jaw back in, the Basket Case shifted her eyes to the side so she could be staring past me and used her chin to gesture in Roxy's direction. As she did, she let out a tiny and barely audible squeak that sounded like it belonged to a rat; and it wasn't difficult for me to understand what she was trying to say. I was going to have to tell my sister about the bathroom catastrophe at some point. If I didn't, she was going to figure it out on her own by the time I received another lecture or Vernon stopped by our house.

"I know, I know. I'll tell her everything that happened ... but not right now." I looked down at the hole in my shirt and stared at my vulnerable scar, biting down on my bottom lip from the dark memories before I glanced back up at the Recluse. "I've _got_ to get this thing covered before anyone else sees it. Do you have any Band-Aids in your bag?"

Allison quickly pulled her bag up onto her lap and started rummaging through it. For a moment, her eyes lit up with satisfaction at the sight of her new panties and bras; but she kept on top of her searching and eventually pulled out a medium-sized pack of plain Band-Aids. Remaining as quiet as a mouse, she popped the top open and pulled out one of the rectangular plasters, handing it over to me as soon as she did.

I let out a deep breath, deflating my chest in relief before I peeled the back of the Band-Aid off with my teeth and placed it on top of my scar. That was - without a doubt - going to be one hell of a bitch to rip off later on, but at least it helped keep my cutting a secret.

"Thanks, Basket Case." I said as soon as I finished making sure that the whole scar was out of sight. "You're a lifesaver."

Allison's sly smile returned to her face as she mouthed, " _It's n_ _o problem_ _, Comrade._ " I could've sworn that I saw a bright shade of pink slip across her cheeks ... but then again, it was probably just my eyes playing tricks on me since I was still trying to cope with mine and Roxy's unpleasant past.

Nonetheless, I couldn't help but grin a little back at Allison. Then, after I watched her tuck the Band-Aids back into her bag and go back to fiddling around with her fingertips, I finally turned away. I could feel the Criminal's eyes following my every move as I walked back to my table, but I ignored his cold stare and pulled my chair out. At the sound of its legs scraping against the floor, Roxy snapped her head in my direction and stared at me. I plopped down beside her, kicking my feet up on the table in the process.

"God, Comrade, that was one heck of a long bathroom break." Her accent was drenched in a mixture of concern and relief. "Is everything okay?"

I peeked over at her from the corner of my eye and pursed my lips. "Yeah, Rox. Don't worry. Everything is fine." I assured, maintaining a perfectly nonchalant voice. Although, on the inside, I felt a small sting of guilt shoot through my heart. Lying to others might've not been a big deal to me, but lying to my blind sister might as well have been a crime.

Roxy furrowed her brow, contemplating my answer. Nonetheless, as she opened her mouth to attempt saying something back, she was cut off when the irritating sound of paper being shredded filled the air once again. The Criminal had just torn the cover clear off from the book that he was holding and ripped it in half.

With an annoyed groan, Roxy glanced in the direction of the noise. "Would it _kill you_ to knock that off?" she sneered.

Almost instantly, Bender rose his head and stared at her with the same bored expression plastered on his face. Though, instead of saying anything back, he silently flung his arm back and chucked the torn pieces of the cover into the air, making it obvious that he was trying to throw them at her. With no hesitation, my eyes hardened and I shot my arm out to prevent Roxy from getting hit, but the ripped pages didn't get far. One piece landed on the Jock's prompt up leg while the other fluttered down on the Princess's table, landing beside her arm.

Claire stared at her half blankly, while Andrew rolled his eyes and discarded his to the floor.

I slowly lowered my arm, continuing to scowl at the Delinquent. " _I_ _swear..._ " Even in my head, the words were seething in rage, "... _i_ _f he even_ thinks _about laying a finger on her, I'm going to smash his skull in._ "

"That's real intelligent." Andrew spoke up, sarcastically nodding as he watched Bender rip out another page of the book.

"You're right." Bender replied dryly. He made eye contact with the Athlete. "It's wrong to destroy literature. Such fun to read."

Roxy crossed her arms over her chest, choking down on a laugh. "What would _you_ know about reading? I'd hate to burst your bubble, Rebellion 101, but police records don't exactly count as literature."

At the sound of her wise tone, a tiny smirk curled up on the edges of my lips; but I remained silent as I gently rocked myself back and forth in my chair.

Bender rolled his eyes, but aside from that, he ignored Roxy completely and flipped the book over so he could see the author's name.

"And..." He shook his bangs out of his face. "Mo-lay really pumps my nads."

The smirk vanished from my face. I arched an eyebrow in utter disbelief at his pronunciation of the writer's name, just as the redhead vaguely shined her lipstick with her tongue. A flirtatious grin spread across her face.

"Moliere." Claire, Roxy, and I corrected in unison. Though, the three of us used different tones. The Diva was frisky, Roxy was offhanded, and I was serious.

Bender immediately turned his head in Roxy's direction again, noticing that she now had a small smile playing around with one of the corners of her mouth. A pale shade of red slipped across his cheeks. Claire spun around in her seat, no longer grinning as she shot daggers at me and Roxy. Her jealousy was evident. While she was trying to get the Criminal's attention, he kept getting drawn back to Roxy. I had to admit, it was entertaining to see the Princess get her panties in a bunch; but at the same time, it wasn't like I actually _enjoyed_ seeing Bender fall for my sister either.

"I love his work." Brian suddenly shared, which only resulted in Bender furiously chucking some more of the papers at him.

The Nerd ducked behind the pillar for protection, causing another smile to briefly cross Claire's face. At the same time, Roxy rested her cheek against her closed fist and let out an irritated huff before she muttered, "Какой осел..." It was obvious that she was talking about Bender. ' _What an ass..._ ' I rolled my eyes at the Criminal's childishness, keeping my legs prompt up on the table as I slightly adjusted my tailbone in my chair.

"Give the pipsqueak a break." I spoke up, sounding bored. "Seriously, Moliere isn't that bad of a writer."

Brian turned his head and looked at me, his eyes now wide like he had just seen a ghost. "You've read Moliere's work?" he asked.

"Yeah, I've read plenty of stuff by him." I glanced back at the stunned Geek before I started ticking titles off on my fingers. " _Tartuffe_ , _The Mister_ , _The Imaginary Invalid_ , _The School Of Wives_..." I stopped, taking a moment to remember the dozens of more books and plays that I've read before I casually shrugged. "But none of it compares to Greek Mythology tales or Shakespeare's work, especially _Julius Caesar_ and _The Odyssey_."

By this point, all of the detainees were staring at me. Allison and Roxy were smiling, but while the Recluse's grin was small and mostly hidden by her hair, my sister's was fully exposed and spread practically ear-to-ear across her face. Andrew and Bender, on the other hand, were looking at me like I didn't have the slightest clue as to what I was saying; and Claire was evidently just as surprised as Brian.

I scoffed at being the center of attention. "Big surprise, I actually have a thing for reading. Sue me."

For a minute, everything was silent - until Bender tossed the ruined book aside and replaced it with the card catalog that sat nearby.

"Big deal." He said as he started to pull the perfectly organized cards out of their spots and shove them back into the wrong places. "Nothing to do when you're locked in a vacancy."

"Ah, speak for yourself." Sporto remarked, watching the darker-haired teen with a bitter glint in his eyes.

"Do you think I'd speak for you?" Bender asked in a much more challenging tone. "I don't even know your language."

The Jock shot him a dry glare, but refused to waste another breath on the Rebel. I could see the Princess watching the two of them from the corner of her eye - just waiting for Sporto to engage in some type of conversation with her. Damn, first she wanted attention from Bender and _now_ she wanted it from Andrew? That bitch was far more slutty and self-centered than I'd previously thought.

Andrew rested his arm against the railing and turned around, but instead of looking at Claire, he glanced over at Roxy.

"Hey," Jockstrap said, "you grounded tonight?"

In less than a second, Claire sprang around in her chair again. The envy was boiling like lava in her Hershey eyes, despite how the rest of her face was masked with a mixture of criticism and shock. Her second attempt at getting any attention - just like her first one - had been ruined by my sister. And that - of course - irritated the Cherry like hell.

Roxy raised an eyebrow, seeming to know that she was the one being put on the spot. "What's it to you?" she asked as she stared perfectly in the direction of Sporto's voice.

Andrew hesitated, taking a moment to gaze over his shoulder at Bender, who had just finished pulling out another group of cards from the catalog. Though, instead of jamming them back in right away, Bender stopped and skeptically lowered his eyebrows at the Jock. Then, after confirming that he was paying attention, Andrew slid his attention back over to Roxy.

"Big party at Stubby's, parents are in Europe. Should be pretty wild." With every word Andrew spoke, the harder Bender started to slam the cards back into the catalog. "If you want, you can come."

I viciously narrowed my eyes, envisioning my hands wrapping around the Jock's neck and strangling him as I straightened myself completely in my chair. Just what in the hell did he think he was doing? I made it as clear as day in the bathroom that Roxy was off limits to not just Bender, but to him and the Nerd as well. Not only that, but I've heard plenty of rumors as to what 'activities' go down during parties at that Stubby kid's house. And I sure as hell wasn't planning on letting my sister go there any time soon. Especially not after what happened back in Russia.

"Um..." Roxy said. She crossed her arms over her chest, not sounding satisfied. "Thanks, I guess ... but parties aren't my thing."

Claire narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in an impatient manner before glancing back down at her lame-ass drawing.

"Are you sure?" Andrew asked, keeping his voice calm. "Some of the other wrestlers were talking about sneaking over to Mr. Lange's house and pulling some pranks after having a couple of drinks. It's going to be fun, I bet."

Roxy shook her head a little, still not impressed. "Sorry, Jockstrap, but partaking in drinking isn't my thing either. I'm afraid you're going to have to ask some other girl."

The Athlete took a minute to just stare at her, but didn't say another word. He then glanced at me, getting an eyeful of my cold stare before he finally looked away and locked his attention on the Princess.

"What about you?" Andrew asked, waiting for the Claire to glance back at him before continuing. "Are you grounded tonight?"

The redhead shrugged, as if she hadn't been jealous. "I don't know. My mom said I was, but my dad told me just to blow her off."

"Well, are you going to go to the party?"

Claire peeked down at the floor for a moment before shrugging again. "I doubt it."

"How come?" Sporto asked, clearly not wanting his invitation to be rejected by another girl.

"Well, 'cause if I do what my mother tells me not to do, it's because my father says it's okay. It's like this whole, big monster deal." Claire explained, vaguely shaking her head as she waved her hand around. "It's endless and it's a total drag."

Roxy scoffed, turning her attention down to her lap and pretending to fiddle around with her Walkman as she muttered, "Слушая ее жалуются на это общее лобовое сопротивление..." under her breath. ' _Listening to her complain is a total drag..._ '

"It's like any minute, divorce." Claire finished, rolling her eyes and flicking her hand at the final word.

"Who do you like better?" Bender suddenly asked.

The Princess glanced over at him, a naive look forming on her face. "What?"

Bender slightly gestured around with his handful of cards as he clarified, "You like your old man better than your mom?"

"They're both screwed." Claire replied, staring at the darker-haired teen like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I let out a loud, highly unrealistic laugh. "He's referring to if you had to choose between them, Strawberry."

The Drama Queen didn't think twice before sending me an icy scowl from over her shoulder. In return, I sent her a teasing smirk and waved. We ended up staring at each other for about five seconds before she turned back around and stared at her table in thought. She raised her shoulders again, and my fake grin immediately vanished.

"I don't know ... I'd probably go live with my brother." Claire answered at last. A tiny grin played around with her lips at the mention of her sibling, but it vanished as soon as she turned her attention back to Bender. "I mean, I don't think either one of them gives a shit about me. It's like they use me just to get back at each other."

"HA!" Allison abruptly shouted, causing everyone to immediately snap their heads in her direction.

A short string of snickers escaped Roxy's mouth, just as a wide and satisfied smile spread across my face. The rest of the detainees, on the other hand, gaped at the Basket Case in a mixture of shock and confusion. Although, it didn't take long for me to notice that small half of a grin that Andrew was wearing. It caused something deep down inside of me to grow a little hot. I didn't know what it was; but what I _did_ know was that I didn't like Sporto looking at Allison like that.

Nevertheless, I kept quiet and turned my head back over to Allison. She opened her mouth, acting like she was going to say something, and puffed her bangs out of her face. Then, a vague smile spread across her lips as she witnessed Roxy shoot her a thumbs-up from the corner of her eye.

"Shut up!" Claire snapped.

Andrew glanced back at her, no longer grinning as he said, "You're just feeling sorry for yourself."

"Yeah, well, if I didn't, nobody else would!" the Princess bellowed, raising her voice to defend herself.

"Aw, you're breaking my heart." Jockstrap said sarcastically as he turned back around to face the railing. At the same time, Roxy pretended to wipe some tears away from her cheeks as she said through a few staged sniffles, "Oh, that's a tragedy. You poor little thing."

"Sporto?" Bender spoke up, butting back into the conversation.

"What?" Andrew sneered.

The Criminal tossed the remaining cards over his shoulder, placed the catalog aside, and hopped down from the librarian's desk. "You get along with your parents?" he asked.

Sporto blinked a couple of times, as though he was debating whether or not he should give an honest reply. "Well, if I say yes, I'm an idiot, right?" he snipped eventually.

Bender leaped over the railing. "You're an idiot anyway," he remarked as soon as he landed in front of the Jock, "but if you say you get along with your parents, well you're a liar, too."

Claire watched the two of them with interest, as if she was imagining that they were in the middle of fighting over her. I, on the other hand, watched in boredom as Bender began to walk away with Andrew glaring at his back. Brian's eyes were glowing with nervousness, following the Athlete as he stormed after the Delinquent and shoved him in the back of his shoulder.

"You know something, man?" Andrew asked, watching as Bender slowly turned back around and stared at him. "If we weren't in school right now, I'd waste you."

"Can you hear this?" The Criminal held his hand out, palm-side down with his fingers slightly curled like claws. "You want me to turn it up?" Then, with a slow rotation of his wrist, it was revealed that he was really flicking Jockstrap off.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." I spoke up, still sounding bored as the Nerd approached the two other guys; but it was too late for him. He had already placed his hands on both of their shoulders in an attempt to calm them down.

"Hey, fellas..." Brian started, but was immediately cut off when Andrew and Bender roughly pushed his hands away from them. The Brain swallowed thickly and gestured to himself, continuing. "I-I-I don't like my parents either. I mean, I don't-" He was cut off again by the Athlete, who nudged him aside so he could walk down to mine and Roxy's table. Without sparing me or my sister a glance, he leaned himself back against the edge and watched in annoyance as Brian continued to babble.

"I don't get along with them at all," the Geek explained, resulting in me raising an eyebrow at him in utter disbelief. "I mean, their idea of parental compassion is just, you know ... wacko." Before his last word, he made a motion with his hand that was supposed to represent his head exploding.

Bender gestured towards him. "Dork..."

"Yeah?" Brian asked, gaping at the Thug like he was just glad that someone was talking to him.

"You are a parent's wet dream, okay?" Bender, with more force than necessary, smacked Brian on the arm three times. By the third slap, Brian plopped down on the table that he had been standing beside and watched as Bender started to approach the hideous statue.

"Well, that's the problem."

With a sharp huff, the Criminal turned back around and pointed at the Nerd again.

"Look, I can see you getting all bunged up from them making you wear these kind of clothes," Bender sneered as he gestured to Brian's cheesy outfit, "but face it, you're a Neo-Maxie-Zoom-Dweebie! What would you be doing if you weren't out making yourself a better citizen?"

"Why do you have to insult everybody?" Andrew suddenly demanded, peeking up from where he'd been glaring at the floor.

"Yeah. Seriously, Bender," Roxy piped in, sounding just as annoyed as the Jock, "is this how you get your kicks in life? By being a straight-up bitch to other people?"

Bender dropped his arms down to his sides and pursed his lips in aggravation. "I'm being honest, assholes," he pointed out, staring at Roxy for a few seconds before he turned back to Andrew and added, "I would expect _you_ to know the difference."

Sporto gestured towards the Wimp. "Yeah, well, he's got a name."

"Yeah?" Bender sarcastically remarked.

"Yeah!" Andrew gazed over at Brian, who was staring down at his knees. "What's your name?"

The Nerd shyly looked up and replied in a tiny voice, "Brian..."

"See?" The Athlete sneered, but the Hoodlum was too busy staring at Brian to acknowledge him.

"My condolences." Bender spoke with mock sincerity and pointed at the Geek as he walked past him.

For a moment, the whole library became silent; but it didn't last long, of course. By the time Bender made it to the front of the room and curved around to the front of the Strawberry's table, he froze in his tracks and looked over at me.

"What about you, Russian Roulette?" the darker-haired teen suddenly asked, resulting in the other detention goers glancing over at me as well.

I didn't hesitate to sardonically fire back, "What _about me_ , Rebellion 101?"

"Your name." And then, as if I was in desperate need of further clarification, he said in a slightly slower voice, "What is your name?"

When all he got in response from me was a scornful stare, the Burnout continued, "Come on, if we are all going to be trapped in this hell hole together, we might as well know each other's names." He made a gesture with his arms to include the other detainees in this discussion.

I slumped down a little more in my chair, half of me wishing that I could just fade into thin air. Then, while remaining silent, I straightened my lips and took a scan around the library at the other detention goers. The Brain, the Athlete, and the Princess were staring at me with curiosity covering their faces, as though they were waiting for me to do some sort of trick. Roxy was biting down on her bottom lip and looking down at her lap, already knowing what was going to happen if I shared my name. And lastly, the Basket Case was pretending to occupy herself by messing around with a lose string on her scarf; but she was really peeking over at me from the corner of her eye.

"This is Saturday detention, not summer camp." I sneered, but after a moment of silence went by with everyone still looking at me, I let out a deep sigh. "Ugh, fine ... Comrade..."

Bender's eyebrows instantly knitted together. "I'm sorry, what?" His voice was drenched in disbelief. "Did you just say ... that your name is _Com-rade?_ "

I looked down at my knees, narrowing my eyes at how he had purposely stretched out my name; but before I could open my mouth to respond, Claire blurted out, "That's your _actual_ name?"

"Yes," I nodded slightly, speaking in a dead serious tone, "it even says so on my birth certificate."

"My God..." a devious, insulting grin spread widely across the Burnout's face, exposing some of his teeth as he snickered. "And here I thought the Dweeb over there had a bad name. Your parents never gave you a chance, huh, _Comrade?_ "

At the mention of my parents, something flared inside of me. I shot Bender a death mock stare, putting my anger on full display as Roxy pressed her lips tightly together and started to impatiently tap her knuckles against the table.

"You know, if I were you, I'd think twice before insulting me about my name. I'm not the one named after a toilet, _John._ " A vague smirk twisted up on one of the corners of my lips as I witnessed Bender's grin immediately waver. "But look on the bright side, it suits you perfectly. You _are_ full of shit, after all."

Allison bit down on her bottom lip and clapped her hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing. At the same time, a bitter scowl swept across the Criminal's face, the sharp glint in his eyes giving it away that he was holding himself back from throwing another punch at me. Everything became quiet - so quiet that I was sure that if a pin dropped, it could be heard from every inch of the school. Nonetheless, the silence was shattered when the Princess rotated herself around in her chair and she said to Roxy, "What's your name?"

The Thug didn't hesitate to turn his attention to the redhead. "What's yours?" he asked, the tone of his voice making it sound like she wasn't good enough to know my sister's name.

Claire turned back around and looked at him. She hesitated, swallowing thickly before answering, "Claire."

" _Ka-lair?_ " Bender asked, over enunciating her name like he had done with mine.

"Claire," the Princess repeated, staring up at him prissily, "it's a family name."

Bender shook his head slightly and spoke like he actually was taking the time to think about her, "Noo, it's a fat girl's name."

"Oh, thank you." Claire sneered sarcastically.

"You're welcome." The Criminal retorted with even more sarcasm.

Claire's face hardened into a glare. "I'm not fat!" she barked.

"Well, not at present, but I can see you really pushing maximum density." Bender informed. He raised his eyebrows, watching the Diva furiously purse her lips as he went on with his insult. "You see, I'm not sure if you know this, but there are two kinds of fat people. There's fat people who were born to be fat, and then there's fat people who were once thin, but they _became_ fat. So when you look at them, you can sort of see that thin person inside."

"О, боже..." Roxy growled, just as Claire glanced away to avoid looking into Bender's mischievous eyes. ' _Oh, good grief..._ ' Though, the Rebel wasn't finished yet. He caught the Drama Queen's attention again.

"You see, you're gonna get married, you're gonna squeeze out a few puppies, and then, uh..." Bender trailed off, mimicking the sound of a balloon being blown up as he used his hands to mime someone becoming obese. Then, when he couldn't extend his arms out any further, he released his air like the balloon had exploded and snickered in pride.

Claire narrowed her eyes, shaking her head a little as she raised her hand and flipped the bird at Bender.

A small, vague chuckle escaped from the mouth. I swear, she couldn't even flick people off without acting like a total snob.

"Oh." Bender said with mock astonishment. "Such obscene finger gestures from such a _pristine_ girl."

"I'm not _that_ pristine." Claire objected, despite how their was a resentful glint in her eyes.

The Burnout placed his hands flat down on the table and leaned in towards the Princess. Then, while staring deeply into her eyes, he whispered, "Are you a virgin?"

Claire refused to answer, staring back at him like he was insane.

"I'll bet you a million dollars that _you are._ " Bender continued, each word smoother than the last. "Let's end the suspense ... is it going to be a ... white weddin'?" A horribly staged Texan accent wrapped around his final two words.

"Why don't you shut up?" the Snob snapped. It was obvious that she was very uncomfortable.

"Have you ever kissed a boy on the mouth?"

Claire's shoulders sunk a little and her face began to turn pink, resembling her blouse. For a moment, it looked like she was actually going to respond; but then she closed her mouth and decided to remain silent.

"Have you ever been felt up?" Bender asked, openly expressing his perverted mind to the whole room. "Over the bra ... under the blouse ... shoes off..."

Allison straightened her lips and looked away. Whether it was from annoyance or from feeling violated, I didn't know. At the same time, Roxy slumped her shoulders and melted into the back of her chair, looking down at her lap as she twirled her thumbs around. Her jet-black bangs - which she had purposely left out of her ponytail - suspended in front of her face, helping to hide the massive blush that had spread rapidly across her cheeks like a wildfire.

"Hoping to God your parents don't walk in?" the Criminal continued.

Claire blinked a few times, her voice quiet and disgusted. "Do you want me to puke?"

A devious, satisfied smile slowly began to spread over Bender's face. "Over the panties..." His paused to steal a quick glance of my sister, eyeing her breasts, "... no bra ... blouse unbuttoned..." He then swept his gaze back over to the redhead, not giving me the chance to curse him out. "Calvin's in a ball in the front seat past eleven on a school night?"

I crinkled my nose a little in disgust at his last question and grumbled, "Валовой..." to myself. ' _Gross..._ '

By this point, the Princess resembled a deer caught in headlights and was no longer trying to put on a tough act. Her scowl was gone from her face and her blush was increasing more by the minute.

"Leave her alone." Sporto spoke up from where he was still sitting on the edge of mine and Roxy's table.

Claire attempted to look away, but Bender followed her gaze and maintained their eye contact for a couple of more seconds.

Noticing this, Andrew stood up and walked to the middle of the aisle. "I said leave her alone!" He stopped in his tracks when he was beside the Geek, eyes swarming with seriousness.

The Criminal removed his attention from the Diva and slowly stood back up to his full height, his eyes now locked on the Athlete.

"You gonna make me?" he asked darkly.

Andrew nodded his head a little, "Yeah."

Roxy bit down on her bottom lip, nibbling at some of the skin as I watched Bender climb up on top of Claire's table. He stomped across it, each of his footsteps echoing through the air, and used Jockstrap's empty chair as his final step down to the floor. The two of them stood before each other, staring threateningly into the other's eyes with Brian sitting nervously on the table directly behind them.

"You and how many of your friends?" Bender asked, slightly leaning in towards the Jock to egg him on.

"Just me. Just _you_ and _me._ Two hits. Me hitting you, you hitting the floor." Andrew scowled, watching as the Criminal flashed him an amused smirk. "Anytime you're ready, pal."

Bender glanced down at the floor, waiting a moment before he threw his arm up and playfully tapped Andrew in the jaw with the back of his hand. In the blink of an eye, Sporto had his arms looped tightly around Bender's, trapping them behind his back and forcing him down to the ground. At the sight of Bender struggling to get free before Andrew managed to pin him down, Allison's jaw dropped and my eyes shot gigantic. I honestly didn't see that coming from Jockstrap. At the same time, Brian practically slid back to the middle of the table that he was sitting on and Roxy released a startled gasp.

"I don't want to get into this with you, man." Bender growled.

Andrew jumped back up, shoving the Delinquent in the back as he did so. "Why not?" he asked.

Bender helped himself up from the floor, flipping his hair back. "'Cause I'd kill you..." He rolled his shoulders and started walking backwards, refusing to say another word until he could see the Jock again. "It's real simple ... I'd kill you and your _fucking_ parents would sue me and it'd be a big mess and I don't care enough about you to bother." He wouldn't stop gesturing around with his hands, sending a few glances to me, Roxy, and Allison like we were supposed to back him up some how. But by his last 'and', he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants and stopped walking.

Sporto rolled his eyes, making a move to sit back down as he muttered, "Chickenshit."

Then, I could've sworn I felt my heart roughly ram against my chest as Bender pulled out a switchblade from his pocket. The sight of it had my eyes growing once again, and the small _click_ that it made when the Thug flipped it open practically rang in my ears. Everyone immediately froze, watching as Bender shot Andrew a dead serious glare before he flicked the blade down and stabbed its sharp point into the back of the empty chair at the Basket Case's table. I took down a thick gulp, clearing a large lump from the middle of my throat.

"Let's end this right now," Andrew sneered, "you don't _talk_ to her ... you don't _look_ at her..."

I watched as Allison leaned over, folding her hands over the blade's handle and pulling it out of the chair. Without being noticed by Bender, she closed it back up and slipped it underneath her polka-dot scarf, where I knew a pocket was hidden. She peeked over at me from the corner of her eye, resulting in me quickly looking away and trying to shove aside the unpleasant flashbacks that Bender's blade caused me to remember.

"And you don't even _think_ about her!" Sporto finished, jabbing his finger roughly in the Criminal's direction. "You understand me?"

Bender shoved his hands back into his pockets and said, "I'm trying to help her." By this point, he was bored with the whole situation.

"She doesn't need _your_ help, Bender." Roxy sneered, as if she hadn't been blushing just minutes before. She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at our table. " _None_ of us need _your_ help."

A vague hint of another smirk curled up on the right corner of Bender's mouth. "You sure about that, Russian Beauty?" he asked after flicking some more of his hair out of his face.

"Stop calling me that!" the Handicapped hissed. "The name's Roxanne ... Roxy, for short."

Silence invaded the library again.

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter is finished! :D :D :) :)**

 **I hope you all enjoyed it! :) :)**

 **Another Fun Fact: Originally, there was supposed to be a Mr. Lange in "The Breakfast Club", but he - along with a few other characters - were cut.**

 **Please review! My goal still stands at getting four reviews per chapter, so please feel free to share your thoughts! I appreciate all of your feedback. :) :) :D :D**

 **Until the next chapter, happy reading and writing to you all! Stay tuned, everyone! :D :D :) :) God bless!**

 **THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!**


	8. That's Thirty Minutes For Lunch

**A/N: How is everything going, my amazing viewers? :)**

 **I hope all is good with all of you. :) I'm doing good, in case any of you are wondering. :) It's time for the next chapter! Who's ready? :D**

 **Nonetheless, before we begin, I would like to thank Applejax XD, emily88034, adriannawills2021, swishyla, and the guest user LiveThroughThis. There are absolutely no words that could possibly describe how much your reviews made me smile. I swear, I felt so bright as I read them. :D Thank you guys so much for taking the time for sharing such kind words with me! :) :) I would also like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read this story so far, as well as add it to their favorites and follows. Seriously, you are all awesome and it means a lot! :D :D **

**Remember, reviews make my day! :D My goal still stands at receiving four reviews per chapter. I appreciate all of your feedback, so please feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me! :) :)**

 **Fun Fact: In the first script of the movie, Claire's name was originally Cathy.**

 **Well, I believe that I said everything that I wanted to say. The time has come for you all to sit back, relax, and enjoy the chapter! :)**

 **Please review! Happy reading, everybody! :D**

* * *

Comrade's POV

Surprisingly, everything started to settle down. The Criminal had moved himself up to the front of the library, where he sat with his legs prompt up at the table in front of the Geek's. I've seen him jump tables and practically play Musical Chairs by himself during a lot of our previous detentions together, so I knew by now that he wasn't going to be staying in that new seat forever; but at least my sister and I got some time away from him now.

Claire, Andrew, and Brian were staring down at their tables with their hands folded and eyes overflowing with boredom. Allison had her back facing everyone again as she looked at her lap, keeping her messy hair hanging in front of her face as she rested her eyes shut. Roxy, on the other hand, was slightly bobbing her head to another song on her Walkman and quietly humming to the rhythm as she twirled the fibers of Bender's scarf around her index fingers. She knew by now that it belonged to him; but she - for some strange reason - still wanted to keep it wrapped around her shoulders. If I had to guess, she must've still felt pretty cold.

And lastly, I was tapping the upper half of my broken pencil against the edge of the table. My eyes were narrowed in thought, staring at my piece of paper like it was about to tell me something very important. At first, the fact that it was blank was entertaining to me because I thought about being able to see the veins popping out of Dick's forehead by the end of the detention; but now, the paper's blankness was _really_ starting to bother me...

The sound of the door opening eventually broke the silence, causing me to roll my eyes and shake my head a little in annoyance. I thought that it was Mr. Vernon coming in to check on us again; but at the sound of music filling the air just seconds later, I knew by heart who it _really_ was. Almost instantly, my eyes widened a little and I shot my head up, staring towards the library's main entrance. At the same time, Roxy stopped messing around with the Hooligan's scarf and snapped her attention in the direction of the noise. For a moment, her jaw dropped in surprise; but then, as soon as she closed her mouth back up, her lips morphed into a smile that practically stretched from one ear to the other. She and I knew _exactly_ who listened to that music.

The other detention goers watched the newcomer as well, but showed no interest in him. It was Carl, the Janitor of Shitty Shermer. He was listening to his radio and patting his hip to the beat as he pushed his trash bin and other cleaning supplies up the ramp. Without a word, he entered the small office where announcements were made over the intercom and picked up a small trashcan from beside the desk. Then, as he turned back around and emptied the bin into his larger can, he flashed a little grin in the Nerd's direction.

"Brian, how are you doing?" Carl asked.

In less than a second, Brian's cheeks flared up. He adverted his eyes from the Janitor, the corner of his lips twitching in embarrassment as he ignored the question.

Bender raised an eyebrow and peeked over his shoulder. "Your dad work here?" he asked the Nerd in a tone that was half curious and half mocking.

At the sight of Brian's humiliation, Carl's smile faltered and was replaced by disappointment - like he expected better behavior from the Straight A student. Without another word, he turned away to return the trash bin to its original spot back in the office. As he did, my face hardened into a scowl and I watched as Brian finally responded to Bender by shaking his head and making a face that made it seem like he was actually _disgusted_ by Carl. Then, an amused grin cracked across Andrew's face and he released a small snicker, causing me to shoot daggers at the back of his head next.

Aside from Allison, Carl was basically mine and Roxy's only other friend. He was helping us adjust to our new lives in Chicago by taking the time to tutor us in English every day after school. Carl had taken a Russian Language course when he was in college, so he was practically fluent in it. Not only that, but he often invited us over to his house after church on Sundays, where he helped Roxy with her 'special' braille homework and made sure to get caught up on how I was doing with my depression. I swear, he and his wife - Emily - treated us and our grandparents like we were actually part of their family. So, it _really_ irritated me when other students insulted him and refused to show him the respect that he deserved.

"You guys are _jerks!_ " Roxy seethed, taking the words right out of my mouth and making them appropriate. "You know, it wouldn't kill you all to show at least _some_ respect!"

With no hesitation, Claire and Bender shifted themselves around a little in their seats and looked at her; but while the Diva's face was covered by a prissy scowl that made her nose look gigantic compared to the rest of her features, the Criminal was showing off a flirtatious smirk as he leaned a little over the back of his chair. There was also satisfaction glowing in his eyes at the sight of his scarf laced around Roxy's shoulders. Brian looked down at his hands, his face growing redder by the minute. It was like he was actually ashamed of being involved in making my sister angry.

"Comrade? Roxy?" Carl asked, slightly caught off guard by my sister's presence. He placed his gloved hand on his hip and rested his other arm across the rim of his trashcan. "What in the world are you two doing here?"

I raised my shoulders in a shrugging motion. "Haven't you heard by now, Carl?" I asked as I then kicked my feet up onto the table and carefully pushed my chair back onto its back legs. "Mr. Ryan caught me ditching class to go skateboarding down the Empire State Building." Despite how I was joking and sounding perfectly nonchalant, there was still some scorn dripping from my accent when I brought up my history teacher. I swear, other than Vernon, I've never met such a nosy prick before in my entire life. Seriously, Mr. Ryan couldn't go a day without searching at least _one_ locker in the school and his eyes constantly followed me around like an eerie painting. It was _really_ annoying.

From the corner of my eye, I could've sworn that I saw Brian tense up a little at the mention of Mr. Ryan. For a moment, I couldn't help but stare at the back of his head and cock an eyebrow in confusion; but at the sound of the Janitor lightly chuckling, I turned my attention away from the Wimp and locked my eyes back on him.

"I'm being serious, Comrade." Carl remarked, continuing to snicker a little as he spoke. "Why are you two in detention today?"

In the blink of an eye, the amused grin that had swept across Roxy's face vanished. "Uh..." She reached behind her head and vaguely rubbed the back of her neck, growing a little red from being put on the spot like that, "...no comment."

At the same time, I lowered my chair back down onto all four of its legs and said through slightly pursed lips, "Yeah, the reason I'm here is a pretty long story, too." The last thing I wanted to do during this detention was take the time to actually think about why I was sitting here in the first place; so, I quickly changed the topic. "How's Emily doing?" I asked, still maintaining an ordinary tone.

"She's doing well." Carl answered. I could still detect a hint of curiosity in his voice, but that didn't stop a cheeky grin from stretching widely across his face. "We went to the hospital yesterday and had an ultrasound done. We're having a boy."

One of the corners of my lips peeled back, forming a smirk that bared some of my teeth as I nodded a few times in approval. Carl and Emily already had two daughters, and after going through three hours of listening to Brian's babbling, Claire's complaining, Andrew's lame-ass comebacks, and Bender's perverted humor, it was great to hear that they had a son on the way. It was the best thing I've heard all day.

Roxy flashed her brightest smile, showing off her dimples. "That's great, Carl! Поздравления!" A few giggles were laced around her final word. ' _Congratulations!_ '

"Спасибо, Roxy." Carl said. _'Thank you, Roxy.'_ He stared over the Queen Bee's head and watched me closely as I rubbed my hand over my sleeve to scratch at an itch. "Но не говорите ваши бабушки и дедушки, все в порядке? Эмили и я хочу, чтобы ждать, чтобы сказать им самим." ' _But don't tell your grandparents, all right? Emily and I want to wait to tell them ourselves.'_

 _"_ Да, все в порядке." I replied with a small, simple shrug. _'Yeah, all right.'_

"Вы двое все еще приходят на ужин сегодня вечером?" Roxy asked as she rested her chin on top of her closed fist. _'Are you two still coming over for dinner tonight?_ '

The two preps glanced at each other, the looks on their faces giving it away that they were strongly confused as to what was being said. As for the Nerd, he was peeking up at the ceiling inquisitively and mouthing a jumble of words to himself, looking like he was trying to figure out the translation of mine and Roxy's conversation with the Janitor.

Carl's smile broadened. "Мы бы не пропустить это для всего мира." He jingled his keys at his side slightly. "Lora и Джессика будет сопровождать нас как хорошо." _'We wouldn't miss it for the world. Lora and Jessica will be accompanying us as well.'_

"Хорошо," I crossed my arms over my chest, vaguely grinning, "мы с спагетти." _'_ _Good. We're having spaghetti.'_

Carl opened his mouth to say something back, but before he could get a word out, Bender butted into the conversation, "Uh, Carl?"

The Janitor's eyes immediately jumped over to the Rebel. "What?"

"Can I ask you a question?" Bender asked. The curious look on his face was clearly staged, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Sure."

The darker-haired teen drew in a deep breath, suddenly sounding serious, "How does one become a janitor?"

A smirk twisted across Carl's face. "You want to be a janitor?"

"No, I just want to know how one _becomes_ a janitor," Bender explained, gesturing around with his hand a little, "because Andrew here is very interested in pursing a career in the custodial arts." He pointed at the Athlete at the mention of him.

"Oh, really?" Carl sarcastically nodded his head and stared at Andrew, who looked like he was seconds away from ripping someone's head off.

I shot Bender a grave stare as he smirked in satisfaction. "Ублюдок..." I muttered under my breath. ' _Bastard..._ '

Carl lifted his hands up to his shoulders. "You guys think I'm just some untouchable peasant? Serf? Pee-on, huh?" He stopped for a moment to watch Claire slightly roll her eyes and glance away from him like he wasn't worth looking at before continuing. "Maybe so, but following a broom after shitheads like you for the last eight years, I've learned a couple of thinks." He stopped again, but this time was to catch the smirk that Allison was sending him from the sidelines. "I look through your letters. I look through your lockers..." Carl jingled his keys again and watched as Bender's head shot up, his eyes now wide in surprise. "I listen to your conversations," the Janitor went on, pointing at his ear, "you don't know that, but I do. I am the eyes and ears of this institution, my friends."

At Carl's final sentence, Roxy mouthed along with him and my sly grin broadened a little in amusement. The two of us had heard that lecture enough times to know it word for word by now.

Carl flashed another smirk at the rest of the stunned teens and turned to leave; but within seconds, he froze in his tracks to glance back at my sister again.

"Oh, Roxy," he said, switching over to his tutoring voice, "before I forget, I've been meaning to ask you about those braille classes of yours. How are you doing with the latest assignments?"

My eyes expanded. Roxy stiffened in her chair. The air seemed to thicken as the shocking realization smacked all of the detention goers upside their heads - excluding the Basket Case. Startled looks swept across everyone's faces; Brian's jaw looked like it was about to slam against the floor and Claire's eyes were practically bulging out of her skull, making her look more terrified than shocked. Nonetheless, nobody said a word as Roxy reached up and slowly ran her fingers across the rim of her glasses. Then, for the first time that whole morning, she removed them from her face and exposed her silvery eyes to the whole room. The light bounced against them, making them look beautiful.

"I'm doing fine with them, I guess," Roxy answered at last. She folded the glasses up and gently sat them down in front of her, knowing that there was no point in hiding her blindness anymore. "Crystal Rose has been helping me out a lot and you've have been a great tutor so far, but..." she paused for a moment, shrugging in thought, "...it's still going to take some time, you know?"

Carl nodded a little and spoke reassuringly, "Hang in there, all right? It'll get easier."

Roxy straightened her lips and nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything back.

The Janitor, after sharing a quick glance with me, started pushing his trashcan to leave again; but this time, he stopped to take a quick peek down at his watch.

"By the way," Carl said, smugly grinning as he pointed towards the massive clock, "that clock's twenty minutes fast."

The Princess and the Jock simultaneously groaned and slumped back in their seats. At the same time, Allison shifted herself fully around in her chair and gaped in shock, causing an entertained smile to curl up on one of the corners of my mouth. In all honesty, she did look pretty cute when she got caught off guard like that.

"Shit." Brian muttered. He dropped his attention back down to his watch and started fiddling around with it, clearly trying to fix the time.

Then, as soon as the door slammed shut behind Carl, announcing his departure, the Criminal spun around in his seat and locked his full attention on Roxy.

"Hey ... Roxanne..." He was reluctant to say her name, considering he had gotten used to addressing her as the 'Russian Beauty' and 'Russian Queen.'

Roxy rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh, right before she turned her head and said in a careless tone, "What do you want, John?"

For a moment, the Delinquent just stared at her. He tilted his head a little to the side, obviously studying her bright gray orbs as a smirk peeled widely across his face, exposing some of his teeth. Admiration gleamed in his eyes, making it clear that he didn't mind being called by his first name if it was Roxy who was saying it. Eventually, Andrew and Claire glanced across the aisle to see what was taking him so long to respond. A defensive scowl was already twisted across Sporto's face, but Gingersnap looked genuinely curious.

Bender flicked some of his hair out of his face. "I just wanted to tell you..." he paused for some stupid dramatic effect, still slyly grinning, "...that you look even prettier without the glasses."

Roxy's eyes shot huge, just as a bright red blush burned across her cheeks like a wildfire. She opened her mouth, looking like she was about to say something back; but when no words came out, she pressed her lips together and remained quiet. With a small chuckle, Bender rotated back around in his chair and coolly wrapped his arm around its back. At the same time, I viciously narrowed my eyes and glared fiercely at the back of his head. Maybe if I stared long enough, holes would start to burn through his skull.

"Roxy, uh..." Brian spoke up, shyly stuttering into his knuckles. "I'm sorry about, uh ... not - um - knowing about ... you know, about you ... being handicapped."

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. "Each of you assholes thought that she was intoxicated or trying to hide a hangover, for cryin' out loud..." I sneered, right before I muttered, "Невероятно ... идти в ад, уколы..." under my breath. ' _Unbelievable ... go to hell, pricks._ '

Roxy closed her eyes, ignoring my comment as she drew in a deep breath through her nose. "It's fine," she said to the Geek as she released her air, "but _please_... _do not_ call me _handicapped._ Any of you. If anything, I'd rather be called 'visually impaired'." She used her fingers to add air quotes around her two final words.

Brian nodded softly and mouthed what looked like "Yeah", but other than that, the whole library became quiet again.

* * *

Surprisingly, fifteen minutes of pure silence managed to tick by - not counting the annoying tapping that was coming from Claire drumming her pencil against her table. The clock now read 11:49, meaning that it was really 11:29. From all of my previous experiences in detention, I knew for a fact that Mr. Vernon was going to be coming in at any second to assign me and the other detainees thirty minutes to eat. Although, he never cared to come back when the thirty minutes were up; so, we basically got to enjoy our lunches for as long as we wanted.

Out of boredom, Bender had - unfortunately - decided to move back to his original seat, and Roxy - just minutes before that - had tied his scarf around her head. It almost made her look like a pirate and it caused the Thug to send her a seductive wink, at which I flicked him off for. Then, shortly after he rolled his eyes at me and sat back down, he shattered the silence by beginning to whistle Mitch Miller's _The Colonel Bogey March._ When Carl couldn't get his radio to work, he would often whistle this song while he worked. At first, I was planning to ignore Bender - until I heard the sound of Brian and Roxy starting to whistle along.

The Recluse peeked over, watching the scene through her hair. Bender began swaying his head, just as Brian started to tap his foot to the rhythm. I reluctantly decided to whistle along, followed by Andrew and then Claire. Finally, as I took a small peek over in Allison's direction, a vague grin toyed around with one of the edges of my lips and I motioned for her to join in. Almost instantly, Allison attempted to whistle along; but the best she could do was blow out some air, resembling an eerie breeze. Maybe the next time we're hanging out, I can teach her how to whistle.

Suddenly, everyone fell silent at the sound of the door opening. Though, at the sight of Vernon strolling in, Bender started to whistle the beginning of Beethoven's 5th. Then, just to aggravate the Principal even more, I carried on the tune from where the Criminal had left off. Which, by the way, resulted in Bender sending me an annoyed glare from over his shoulder. Aw, was he mad because I ruined his chance to piss Vernon off? Too bad for the Bad Boy.

With a roll of my eyes, I stopped whistling and slumped back in my chair like I hadn't done anything at all.

"All right, girls," Dick announced, sounding just as grim and heartless as he looked, "that's thirty minutes for lunch."

The Athlete squinted in confusion, "Here?"

" _Here._ " Vernon answered firmly.

Andrew spoke up again, trying to sound reasonable, "Well, I think the cafeteria would be a more suitable place for us to eat lunch in, sir."

The Principal coldly narrowed his eyes. "Well, I don't care what you think, _Andrew,_ " he sneered, enhancing the scorn in his voice as he said Jockstrap's name.

"Uh, Dick?" Bender butted in. Mr. Vernon flicked his attention over to him, still glaring. "Excuse me, Rich. Will milk be made available to us?"

Andrew nodded a little. "We're extremely thirsty, sir."

"I have a really low tolerance for dehydration." Claire informed, not sounding the slightest bit convincing. Her face almost looked dumbfounded, as if she was actually asking Vernon if he was _really_ going to fall for that. She _really_ needed to work on her lying skills.

"I've seen her dehydrate, sir." Andrew was quick to cover up the Drama Queen's pathetic comment. "It's pretty gross."

"'Pretty gross' is an understatement." I piped in. Unlike Claire, I sounded perfectly nonchalant and was fighting to keep myself from breaking out into a huge smirk as I continued. "Seriously, Richard, you have _no_ idea how disgusting it is if Gingersnap gets dehydrated. If she doesn't get any beverages in her system, she practically turns into an overdressed raisin. It is absolutely _horrendous._ "

The Principal didn't look amused, staring at me with the same stony stare. My sister, on the other hand, had to bite down on her bottom lip to prevent herself from chuckling; and the Diva shot me a snobby scowl that silently commanded me to shut my mouth.

Bender held his hands up and spoke like he had a mischievous plan up his sleeve, "Relax. Comrade and I will get it."

I scoffed quietly, remaining seated as I watched him rise from his chair. I wasn't dumb. I knew that he wanted to get even with me for constantly one-upping him in front of everyone and for fighting in the bathroom; but hell would have to freeze over before I ever agreed to go with him anywhere.

"Ah-ah-ah!" Vernon snipped, causing the Rebel to freeze. "Grab some wood there, bub. What, do you think I was born yesterday?"

With a small click of his tongue, Bender slowly lowered himself back down in his chair.

"You think I'm gonna have you roaming these halls?" Dick went on, eyeing me for a split second before he locked his eyes back on Bender. "Especially with Mr. Alexandrov of all people?"

Bender straightened his lips and nodded sarcastically, as if he actually agreed with the Principal.

"You." Vernon pointed at the Jock, causing him to glance away and bounce his leg in annoyance. Mr. Vernon then began to skip his gaze around at the other detainees, obviously ignoring the Criminal as he tried to find someone else to pick. For a moment, I sarcastically raised my hand high in the air, pretending to volunteer. As I suspected, the Principal refused to acknowledge me; but then, he pointed at Roxy - clearly oblivious to her silver pupils - and said, "You as well." In return, the Handicapped pursed her lips and nodded a little, somehow knowing that she was the one being spoken to. She removed Bender's scarf from around her head, dropping it onto the table.

As the Principal then began scanning around at the remaining detention goers for a third member, Andrew pointed over at Claire in the hopes of her getting picked. At the same time, the Princess straightened herself a little more in her chair. Nonetheless, their teamwork was quickly terminated when Mr. Vernon directed his finger to the Basket Case and said, "And you." Her back was still facing everyone and she was showing no signs of paying attention to what was happening.

"Hey!" Vernon exclaimed as he snapped his fingers. Allison's eyes fluttered open, just as the rest of the detainees turned around in their seats and looked at her. "Hey! What's her name? Wake her! Wake her! Hey!" Dick snapped his fingers again, waiting for Allison to look at him. When she did, she shot him a dark stare. "Come on, on your feet, missy! Let's go! This is no rest home."

I felt that familiar tingle of heat flare up deep down inside of me again; except this time, it felt a few notches hotter. After witnessing Sporto flash Allison that tiny half of a grin not that long ago, I _really_ didn't like the idea of the two of them being paired up. Even if it was just for fetching some drinks. It was bad enough that my sister was chosen, but that bitch Vernon just _had_ to make this worse by picking the Recluse, too. I didn't know why, but just the mental picture of Andrew getting some time away from the detention with Allison irritated the hell out of me. I fiercely bit down on my bottom lip to keep myself from objecting, surprisingly not drawing any blood.

"There's a soft drink machine in the Teacher's Lounge." Mr. Vernon said. "Let's go!"

Andrew, now looking incredibly wretched, rolled his eyes and silently stood up from his seat. Claire rested her cheek against her knuckles and shot him an almost entirely pitying expression, but didn't say a word. I sharply narrowed my eyes, keeping them on the Athlete as I slowly leaned over towards my sister.

"Roxanne, сделай мне одолжение, хорошо?" I whispered with my accent dripping in seriousness. ' _Roxanne, do me a favor, okay?_ ' Roxy turned her head and gave a small nod, letting me know that she was listening. I flicked my attention over to the Basket Case, watching as she quickly slipped her bag's strap over her head and rose from her seat. "Убедитесь что бандаж не пытается что-либо с Allison." ' _Make sure Jockstrap doesn't try anything with Allison._ '

Roxy arched an eyebrow, and a small smirk twitched up on the corners of her lips. "Могу ли я почувствовав ревность, товарищ?" A few chuckles were laced into her words. ' _Am I sensing jealousy, Comrade?_ '

I scoffed quietly, sliding my hands into the pockets of my worn out jeans. "Конечно нет. Просто убедитесь, что он ничего не тянет." The heat inside of me grew a little warmer as I spoke. ' _Of course not. Just make sure that he doesn't pull anything._ '

Roxy only nodded, just as Allison approached our table and let out a tiny squeak. With no hesitation, my sister rose from her chair and allowed the Recluse to guide one of her hands up to her shoulder. Roxy curled her fingers, digging them into the fabric of Allison's oversize sweater as Allison began to escort her down the aisle. At the same time, Andrew walked up the aisle; the two of them abruptly stopped, making Roxy get slightly jerked as they stood apart and continued to walk, as though they would get cooties if they touched each other.

Andrew got closer to Brian and held out his hand for money. In return, Brian quickly reached into one of the pockets of his pants and pulled out his wallet.

"Come on. Shake your tail feather." Vernon growled, watching as the Nerd searched anxiously for the correct amount of cash. "Let's go, ante up."

I rolled my eyes at the Principal's impatience, just as Brian handed his money over to Andrew. Whether Dick liked it or not, it was going to take me a moment to get my money.

"Some people don't even get a lunch hour." Vernon went on.

Andrew turned, extending his hand out towards the Criminal. Shortly after, Bender turned his head over to the Geek and held out his hand, resulting in Sporto dropping his arm in a way that made it look like he was thinking, " _Figures._ " Brian eyed Bender's gloved hand for a few seconds before giving it a wimpy slap. I didn't even bother holding back a snort.

"Come on, haganaga!" Dick ordered.

The Rebel's face was masked with a deadly stare and his eyes were overflowing with annoyance. For a moment, Brian was confused; but after a couple of seconds, he realized his mistake and raised his hand up to his face, chuckling to himself in embarrassment. After that, he retrieved his wallet from his pocket again and pulled out some more change. Then, after he handed it over to the Jock's waiting hand, the Nerd glanced over at the Burnout and mouthed what looked like, "I'm sorry, my bad." As a response, Bender rolled his eyes and looked away.

I was next. When Andrew approached my table, I had to bite down on the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from lashing out on him. He held out his hand, but I remained as still as a statue and took a moment to just stare at his palm.

"You want money?" I asked, pretending that I had no idea what he was doing. Although, when all I got in return was a slight glare, I decided to cut the act. "All right, give me a minute."

"You don't _have_ a minute, Mr. Alexandrov." Mr. _Vermin_ sneered as he shook his head a bit, acting sassy. "If you don't hurry up, I'll make another call to your grandmother."

I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything back. Instead, as Jockstrap leaned against the edge of the table, I scooted my tailbone all the way back in my chair and easily lifted my right leg up onto the table. All of the detention goers - not including Allison and Roxy - stared at me with utter confusion etched across their faces. I untied the laces of my converse and pulled it off, leaving my foot in just its sock. My face was perfectly natural as I slid my hand all the way into the shoe and pulled out a couple of folded, vaguely crumbled dollar bills. I sorted through them, gathering enough to pay for me and Roxy before I wadded the other bills back together and tucked them back into my converse.

Vernon cocked an eyebrow, but continued to scowl as I shoved the money into Andrew's hand and said in dead seriousness, "I want my change back." The Athlete rolled his eyes, but I chose to ignore him as I slipped my shoe back onto my foot and retied the laces.

Claire was the last one to go, staring at the Principal. "Excuse me, sir ... um..." She pulled out a fifty dollar bill from her pocketbook and held it up, "can you break this?"

My eyes widened in disbelief. The most money I've ever got was fifteen bucks per week, courtesy of having an allowance. So, despite how I should've seen something like this coming from the Snob, her fifty dollars caught me by surprise.

Vernon breathed an insulting laugh, as if he couldn't believe that she was carrying around that kind of money in the first place. Especially to a Saturday detention.

Eventually, after the grumpy Principal rummaged through his wallet for about two solid minutes, he finished breaking down the Redhead's fifty bucks and spared her the appropriate amount of change. Then, after Andrew gathered every last penny from her, he walked past where Roxy and Allison were waiting for him beside the librarian's desk. I pierced his back with my eyes, making sure he was keeping his distance from my sister and best friend until the three of them vanished out of the room.

Mr. Vernon took one final glance around at the remaining detainees in the room, double-taking me and the Delinquent a few times before he turned away and silently exited the library. It looks like that leaves me alone with Bender, Brian, and Claire for some time...

" _Great,_ " I thought to myself sarcastically, " _this detention keeps getting better and better._ "

In less than a second, the darker-haired teen rose from his seat and walked down the aisle. I turned my head, following him with confusion glistening in my eyes. He pulled a large book out of one of the shelves and plopped down on top of a table that was nearby the strange looking statue. Without a word, he flipped it open to random page and began to skim it. The Princess and the Nerd exchanged glances, not waiting long before standing up from their chairs and walking over to where he was. Claire, with a mask of boredom covering her face, crossed her arms and leaned against the statue. Brian, on the other hand, seated himself on top of the railing beside the Criminal and started to read from the same book at a safe distance.

I rolled my eyes and mumbled, "Дерьмо..." under my breath. ' _Shit..._ ' After that, I stood up from my chair and snatched up my blank sheet of paper, as well as both halves of my broken pencil. And finally, I approached the statue, ignoring the Diva's judgmental scowl as I climbed all the way up to the top and straddled one of its 'arms' like a horse.

Nobody said a word, so I figured that now was as good a time as any. I dangled one of my legs over the edge, where my foot rested a little above and to the side of Claire's head, and I used my other leg's knee as a surface as I began to write.

* * *

Allison's POV

Andrew walked ahead, not seeming to care about how Roxy and I were taking our time to follow. Roxy was still gripping my shoulder and staring straight ahead, allowing me to escort her down the incoming curve in the hall. By the time we past the huge "Freedom For All" poster that was decorated with some eagles and the Liberty Bell, Andrew clapped his hands together in an attempt to distract himself. Then, when it failed to work like I knew it would, he turned around and stared at me and Roxy with boredom thickly coating his eyes.

"So..." He looked away after examining the two us for a couple of seconds. "...What are your poisons?"

I remained silent, narrowing my eyes in dissatisfaction as I stared at the back of his head. Roxy, on the other hand, shifted her attention in the direction of his voice and furrowed her brow in confusion.

When neither of us answered, Andrew glanced around again and clarified, "What do you two drink?"

I parted my lips with a sneer, but still said nothing back. Roxy didn't either; if anything, she tightened her grip on my shoulder a little more, seeming to grow tense for some reason. I crinkled my nose a little, detecting the smell of Bender's bitter cologne coming from her. It must've been left behind from his scarf ... and it reminded me of my shitty excuse of an old man.

"Okay," Andrew sighed disdainfully and jammed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, "forget I asked."

Almost immediately after he said that, the Handicapped spoke up, "I drink Coke." Although, her voice was a little reluctant.

Andrew shifted around again, locking his eyes on her. "Coke?" It sound like he was making sure that he had heard her correctly. When all he got for an answer that time was a vague nod, he said in the same bored tone, "All right. We can get seven Cokes." After that, without acknowledging me, he gazed away again. Another sneer crossed my face, and I studied him from the bottom of his sneakers to the top of his dirty blonde hair. I wouldn't go as far as saying that he wasn't good-looking, but he sure as hell didn't compete with Comrade.

"Vodka," I said after another long, annoying silence.

At the sound of my voice, Sporto turned and took a moment to just stare at me. At the same time, a small grin molded across one half of Roxy's mouth.

"Vodka?" It was obvious that he thought I was bluffing. "When do you drink vodka?"

I raised my arms in a shrugging motion and answered, "Whenever." I picked up the pace a little, flicking my bangs aside as the Handicapped and I past the Jock.

His eyes followed us, "A lot?"

"That's an understatement." Roxanne chimed in, almost mimicking what Comrade had said just minutes before about Claire getting dehydrated. Andrew jumped his attention over to her, just as she added, "She drinks tons." A smirk cracked widely across my face at her last word.

Jockstrap stared at the Handicapped in astonishment. "Is that why she's here today?" he asked, truly curious. In less than a second, my sly grin crumbled away from my face and I rolled my eyes. Roxy straightened her lips, not saying a word back. "What about you, Roxy?" Andrew continued, treating this like some sort of interrogation. He cocked an eyebrow at my second best friend and watched as she dropped her head down to the floor. I could feel how uncomfortable she was starting to feel. "Why are you here?" Andrew asked again. Finally, I had enough.

I stopped and spun towards Sporto, forcing Roxy to freeze in her tracks as well. "Why are _you_ here?" I demanded as I looked directly into the Athlete's eyes.

He stared back at me, hesitating for a couple of moments. "Umm..." He pursed his lips and slowly backed himself up against the wall. "I'm here today because, uhh ... because my coach and my father don't want me to blow my ride." I raised my eyebrows, as if I was interested, and he continued. "See, I get treated differently because, uhh ... Coach thinks I'm a winner. So does my old man. I'm not a winner because I wanna be one." Roxy rose her head, the glint in her bright gray eyes giving it away that she wasn't falling for this. Neither was I. Nonetheless, Sporto went on. "I'm a winner because I have strength and speed ... kinda like a racehorse." He nodded a little. "It's about how involved I am in what's happening to me."

"Yeah..." I narrowed my eyes at him, speaking softly. "That's _very_ interesting..."

"Mesmerizing..." Roxy contributed. " _So_ fascinating..."

Andrew nodded a little, clearly unaware of how the two of us weren't fooled by his bullshit story. If there was _one_ thing I actually admired about myself, it was the fact that I practically had a lie detector - or as Comrade usually calls it, a 'bullshit meter' - built in to me.

" _Now_ why don't you tell us why you're _really_ in here?" I asked, sounding dark.

Andrew squinted at us, pausing for a second before scoffing. "Forget it..." He turned away and continued to walk without flashing the tiniest glance behind him to see me or Roxy.

The three of us continued our journey to the Teacher's Lounge in complete silence.

* * *

Comrade's POV

I tapped the eraser end of my broken pencil against my bottom lip and repeatedly scanned the same sentence that I had just finished writing out. Ever since Roxy, Allison, and Andrew left, I'd been distracting myself by working on something; but I still peeked up every once in a while to see what the three other detention goers were up to. At the moment, Brian was still glancing at the book that Bender had pulled out and Claire, who was still visibly being devoured by her boredom, had just finished sliding in a circle around the statue for at least the sixth time. Bender had his arm resting on one of the bars of the railing, watching her.

"Claire?" The Criminal waited for her to look at him, gaining the Wimp's attention in the process as well. "You want to see a picture of a guy with Elephantiasis in the nuts?" He pointed at the book that was prompt up against his knee. "It's pretty tasty."

Claire rolled her eyes and glanced away, clearly revolted. "No thank you..." she mumbled as she started to fiddle around with her perfectly manicured nails.

Trying to get a better reaction, Bender continued, "How do you think he rides a bike?"

"Ой, черт побери!" I exclaimed. ' _Aw, dammit!_ ' While writing, I had been paying so much attention to the so-called conversation that I accidentally wrote down the Rebel's latest question. Bender glanced up at me, watching in silence as I eagerly erased my mistake. Then, after a few seconds, he directed his attention back over to Claire, who had just looked away again after shooting him a half disturbed/half aggravated glare.

"Oh, Claire?" Bender watched as she made eye contact with him again. "Would you ever consider dating a guy like this?"

The Redhead threw her arms down at her sides in exasperation and blurted out, "Can't you just leave me alone?"

However, the Burnout wouldn't back down. "I mean, if he had a nice personality, was a good dancer, and had a cool car?" He paused for about three seconds, looking satisfied in himself. "Although, you'd probably have to ride in the backseat because his nuts would ride shotgun."

I glanced up from my piece of paper again, resting the back of my head against the 'neck' of the statue as I scoffed. "Bender, how in the hell do you suppose that he's a good dancer if his junk is _that_ swollen?" I asked, referring to how the man's personal areas would be too huge for someone to sit directly beside him in a car. Though, Bender only shot me a cold stare in response.

With another roll of her eyes, Claire turned away so she wouldn't have to look at Bender or Brian. "You know what I wish I was doing?" she asked, nearly whispering each of her words.

"Oh, watch what you say," Bender cautioned, right before he turned his head and pointed at the Nerd, "Brian here's a cherry."

"A cherry?" Brian asked. I leaned a little forward, cocking an eyebrow at his slightly nervous tone. What kind of scene was about to unravel there? Only one way to figure out.

"I wish I was on a plane ... to France." Claire muttered to herself, looking a little annoyed since nobody straight-up answered her question.

" _Keep dreaming, Princess._ " I rolled my eyes, but kept my gaze locked on Brian and Bender as I folded my piece of paper up until it was nothing but a tiny square. " _Whether you like it or not, t_ _he closest any of us are getting to France is French Toast._ " After that, I slid the paper into one of my pockets and hopped down from the statue. I landed perfectly on my feet, right behind the Snob, and casually strolled over to the Delinquent and the Geek.

Brian peeked at me, acknowledging my approach before he glanced back at Bender and whispered, "I'm not a cherry..."

"When have you ever gotten laid?" Bender asked.

" _Oh, great,_ " I thought to myself sardonically, " _o_ _ne_ _of_ these _conversations._ "

"I've laid lots of times." Brian replied, sounding so naive to the point where it was like he didn't even know what 'getting laid' meant.

"Name. One." Bender sneered.

With a tiny shrug, the Geek looked away and fixed his eyes on me. "She lives in Canada," he said, as though he was trying to convince me too, "I met her at Niagara Falls. Neither of you would know her."

I slowly shook my head and rolled my eyes. At the same time, the darker-haired teen smacked his lips and glanced off in the distance out of aggravation.

"Ever laid anyone around here?" Bender eventually asked.

Brian's eyes widened and his cheeks grew pink. He shushed the Criminal and peeked over at Claire, gesturing with his hand for him to keep it down. I straightened my lips and closed my eyes, as if I was saying to Brian, "You shouldn't have done that..."

"Oh," Bender said, enhancing the volume of his voice on purpose. He had his eyes widened in staged shock, and he pointed at the Princess before pointing back at the Brain. "You and Claire ... did it!"

After opening my eyes again, I glanced over my shoulder and watched as Claire turned to look at the three of us at the mention of her name.

"What are you talking about?" She focused her attention mainly on Brian, making his blush darken a shade more.

"Uh, nothin' ... nothin'." He shook his head at her a few times, right before he peeked over at me and then at Bender. "Let's just drop it, okay? We'll - we'll talk about it later."

"No, drop what?" Claire asked. She flicked her eyebrows up in dead seriousness. "What're you talking about?"

Bender constantly turned his head from left to right, eyeing the Dork and the Princess as he explained, "Well, Brian's trying to tell me and Comrade that in addition to _the number_ of girls in the Niagara Falls area, that presently you and he are riding the hobby horse." I darkly narrowed my eyes at his mention of me, considering I haven't said a word during his and Brian's whole conversation.

"You little pig!" Claire hissed as she shot a prissy glare at Johnson.

"No, I'm not! I'm not!" Brian exclaimed. He went back and forth from gesturing to himself to pointing at Bender. "John said I was a cherry and I said I wasn't! That's it! That's all that was said! Just ask Comrade!"

I opened my mouth to say something, but I was cut off when Bender spoke up again, "Then what were you motioning to Claire for?"

The Beauty Queen shook her head a little, "You know, I don't appreciate this very much, Brian."

"He is _lying!_ " Brian declared, pointing at the Rebel in another attempt to defend himself.

"Oh, you _weren't_ motioning to Claire?" Bender asked.

Brian bounced his leg nervously, opening and closing his mouth a few times before he said to Claire, "You know he's lying, right?" He was very desperate by this point, but when she refused to reply, he glanced over at me and said, "Can you _please_ tell her that he's lying?"

I stared at him, saying nothing with no particular emotion shown on my face.

"Were you or were you not motioning to Claire?" Bender pressed on.

The Brain looked down at the floor, beating an intense shade of pink. "Yeah, but it was only..." He then shifted his attention uncomfortably from his right knee to his left one. "It was only because I didn't want her to know that I was a virgin, okay?" When nobody said anything, he turned his head back over to the satisfied Bender. "Excuse me for being a virgin, I'm sorry."

Claire let out a small chuckle as she approached the same table that Bender was sitting at. "Why didn't you want me to know that you were a virgin?" she asked as she took a seat on the opposing edge.

"Because it's personal business," Brian replied, right before he motioned to himself, "it's _my_ personal, private business."

"Well, Brian, it doesn't sound like you're doing any business." Bender smugly remarked, causing me to cross my arms over my chest in annoyance.

The Princess, after piercing the Burnout with an unamused glare, glanced back at the Nerd and said, "I think it's okay for a guy to be a virgin." Immediately, Bender snapped his head in her direction and stared at her with utter disbelief printed across his face. Despite how I didn't show it, I was pretty caught off guard too. I expected Claire to be the type of girl who would only sleep with guys who 'understood the activity' ... but I guess this little confession of hers means that she didn't mind sleeping around with pure guys.

"You do?" Brian asked in a small, delicate voice.

Claire took a moment to peek at Bender from the corner of her eye. After that, she locked her attention back on Brian and flashed him a smile, nodding.

"Brian," I spoke up for the first time since my sister, the Basket Case, and the Athlete left, "why were you so afraid to admit that you're a virgin? Seriously, it's not that big of a deal."

The Nerd pursed his lips slightly. "To be honest, I ... um..." He paused for a moment, almost reluctantly making eye contact with me. "...I didn't really want you to know about it either."

I squinted at him in confusion. "Why in the hell didn't you want _me_ to know?" I asked, hoping to death on the inside that it didn't involve the same reason as to why he didn't want Claire to know.

"I-I was afraid that..." Brian sighed and glanced down at his lap again, "...that you would make fun of me, you know?"

"Brian, I can name _a lot_ of things about you to make fun of," I informed as I uncrossed my arms and slid my hands into the back pockets of my jeans, "but being pure isn't one of them. There's nothing wrong with wanting to wait for the right person. Why do you think I'm still a virgin?"

In less than a second, Brian snapped his head back up and stared at me with his eyes looking like they were about to pop out of his head. At the same time, Claire narrowed her eyes and examined me from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head.

" _You?_ " She clearly didn't believe me. The judgment laced around her words was evident. " _You_ are a virgin?"

"Yeah, I am." I confirmed with a solid glare plastered on my face. I locked my attention back on Brian. "And I'm sure as hell not ashamed of it. You see, Pipsqueak, unlike _some people_ , I don't see the point of having sex with anyone unless you're planning on spending the rest of your life with them." At the words 'some people', I shot a glance at the Hoodlum and then at the Diva.

Bender scoffed, "Oh, what a gentleman." He flashed me an amused smirk, speaking sarcastically. "I guess that means your underwear is overflowing with cobwebs, huh? No wonder you're such a cranky bitch."

I viciously narrowed my eyes at him. "This coming from the biggest man whore in the school! I swear, John, you are _just like_ a doorknob." As soon as I called him a whore, Bender's sly grin transformed into a piercing scowl; but when I mentioned a doorknob, he arched an eyebrow in confusion. I raised my hand, curling my fingers slightly; then, with a small rotation of my wrist, I made it look like I was twisting a knob. " _Everyone_ gets a turn with you. Anytime, anywhere." I sneered.

In less than a second, fire practically flared up in Bender's eyes, as if something inside of him really did explode. He opened his mouth, but before he could get a say anything back, he was cut off by the sound of the library's door opening. Seconds later, the sound of Andrew's voice filled the air, announcing, "Drinks are here!"

Brian hopped down from the railing and took off running like he had a wedgie. Whether he wanted to get away from me and the Burnout or he was very eager to have lunch, I couldn't figure out the direct answer. Claire quickly followed, not sparing me or the darker-haired teen the tiniest glance as she swayed her bony hips with every step she took. Was she _seriously_ trying to get _more_ attention? What a slut...

Bender cussed under his breath, scowling at the floor for a couple of seconds. Then, as he made eye contact with me again, he sneered, "You better watch your back, Russian Massacre."

I rolled my eyes, unfazed by the threat. "And you should start spending a lot less time on yours, Rebellion 101." I turned my back on him, catching a small glimpse of his cheeks becoming redder than his flannel before I walked off to join the other detention goers.

Time for lunch.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's another completed chapter! :D :) :) :D**

 **I hope you all enjoyed it! :D Keep in mind that I love feedback and it's my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter. :) :) Feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. I admire all of your feedback. :)**

 **Another Fun Fact: The whole scene where Andrew is gathering money from the other detainees to pay for the Cokes was cut from the film to save time. It is an actual deleted scene.**

 **And yes, I mentioned Crystal Rose - my other character from "The Loner" - in this chapter. Who caught the reference? :D**

 **Well, everybody, I believe that's it for this chapter. Please review! :) :) :D :D**

 **Have a great and safe Fourth of July! :D :D Until the next update, everyone! Happy reading and writing to you all! God bless! :) :)**

 **THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER! **


	9. Did I stutter?

**A/N: Hey, everybody! :) It's time for the next chapter! Are you all as excited as I am? I hope so! :)**

 **I also hope that you all had a wonderful and safe Fourth of July. Mine was a lot of fun! :D We celebrated my Uncle's birthday! :) :)**

 **Nevertheless, before we begin, I would like to thank those who reviewed the last chapter: AvidMovieFan16, Applejax XD, swishyla, adriannawells2021, and the two guest viewers, LiveThroughThis and Guest. Thank you all so, so much for taking the time to share such amazing words with me! :D I would also like to take the time to thank everyone who has added this story to their favorites and follows, as well as those who enjoy reading it. You are all amazing! Thank you all so very much! It means so much to me! :D :D :) :) **

**Remember, reviews make my day! :D My goal still stands at receiving at least four reviews per chapter, so feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me! :) :) I love feedback and I appreciate it all very much! :) :)**

 **Fun Fact: Off set, Judd Nelson (Bender) stayed in character and taunted the rest of the cast. He was so rude to Molly Ringwald (Claire) to the point where he was threatened to be fired. In the end, Paul Gleason (Vernon) was one of the people who defended him. Ironic, huh?**

 **Well, I believe I shared everything that I wanted to. It's time for you all to sit back, relax, and enjoy the chapter! :)**

 **Please review! Happy reading, everybody! :D**

* * *

Comrade's POV

By the time I returned to our table, Roxy was already sitting back in her chair with her hands folded in front of her. A can of Coke was resting between her arms and she was swaying her head to another song on her Walkman, listening with only one headphone again. I pulled my hands out of the back pockets of my worn out jeans and knelt down, retrieving our lunches from where they were slumped beside my knapsack. At the sound of the paper lightly crinkling in my grasp, my sister turned her head and locked her silvery eyes on me. She was definitely a master at using her other senses - especially her enhanced hearing.

Claire and Andrew picked their bags up from the floor, just as Bender strolled by and 'accidentally' nudged me in the back of my shoulder. I sharply narrowed my eyes at the back of his head, imagining what it would be like if he suddenly got set on fire as I flicked him off. Nonetheless, the Criminal didn't spare me the smallest glance and spun a chair around, seating himself behind the two preps. His cheeks were still partially red, giving it away that he was still pissed about how I had referred to him as Shitty Shermer's biggest man whore. Damn, I was just stating the obvious. If he didn't like it, then he should _really_ get a grip on his raging hormones and stop sleeping around.

Bender leaned a little further in his chair, watching the Redhead as she pulled out a napkin and a small wooden table from her fancy bag. "What's in there?" he asked. In less than a second, Roxy snapped her attention in the direction of his voice. At the same time, I cocked an eyebrow in confusion at the Princess's wooden table. What, was she expecting a shoeshine as she ate or some shit like that?

"Guess..." Claire replied with a sarcastic shrug, as if it was obvious. She sat the wooden table down and reluctantly made eye contact with Bender. "Where's your lunch?"

A slight smirk curled up on one of the edges of Bender's lips. For a few seconds, he remained quiet; but then, he stole a quick glance over his shoulder at my sister and answered slyly, "Roxanne's wearing it."

Roxy immediately narrowed her eyes and shot him an icy scowl as she quietly sneered, "Черт свинья..." Still, a mere shade of red managed to burn across her cheeks. At the same time, I curled my empty hand into a tight fist and bit down on my bottom lip to prevent myself from cursing him out. ' _Damn pig..._ ' Unfortunately, our reactions only caused Bender's smirk to broaden a little. That is, until he flipped some of his hair out of his face and glanced back at the Snob.

With a small roll of her eyes, Claire looked away and mumbled, "You're nauseating..." She continued to unpack her fancy bag.

Unfazed by the prissy remark, Bender leaned forward and grabbed two Cokes. Without aiming, he tossed one can over his shoulder and sent it soaring through the air until Allison, without taking her eyes off from this record that she was holding, reached up and simply caught it in her hand. I flashed an amused smirk and lightly chuckled as she slammed the Coke against her table and continued to stare intently at her record; but from the corner of my eye, I saw Bender staring directly at me and getting ready to throw the second can. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Was he planning to _hit me?_ Good luck with that, asshole. Without taking my eyes away from the Basket Case, I reached my hand out and easily caught the other Coke as the Hoodlum flung it at me. I casually gripped the can, turned my head, and raised an eyebrow at him, as if I was saying, "Is that _really_ the best you got?" In return, the darker-haired teen rolled his eyes and shifted back around in his chair, clearly unsatisfied with how I had managed to catch the soda.

I sat my Coke down, just as the Beauty Queen pulled out this shiny black box from her bag and placed it on top of her miniature wooden table. With the Delinquent's eyes following her every move, she removed the lid and poured what looked like soy sauce into a small bowl. I furrowed my brow and watched, trying to figure out what in the hell that it was that she was having.

"What's that?" Bender asked, genuinely confused.

Claire turned her head and stared at him disdainfully as she answered, "Sushi." At the sound of that word, I crinkled my nose in disgust and cringed. Once when Roxy and I were seven, our mom had taken us to a seafood restaurant in an attempt to get away from our old man for the evening. Roxy refused to try any of the food, judging it all by its overpowering, nasty smell. I, on the other hand, decided to try a small piece of an octopus arm. Immediately after I bit into it and tasted the flavor, I felt like I was about to vomit all over the place. It was like chewing on a slimy and insanely salty piece of sponge. So, Mom ended up taking me and Roxy to get burgers instead. And til' this day, I absolutely despise seafood.

"Su-shi?" The Thug made it sound like a foreign word.

The Queen Bee lightly laughed, picking up her chopsticks as she went into further detail, "Rice, uh, raw fish, and seaweed."

By this point, all of the other detainees, except for my sister and Allison, had sickened looks smeared across their faces.

Bender squinted, contemplating how he should respond to his new knowledge of sushi.

Roxy crossed her arms over her chest and cocked an eyebrow in Claire's direction, taking advantage of the silence. "You're having an _aquarium_ for lunch?" Her accent was drenched in a mixture of judgement and disbelief. It gained the attention of the Nerd and the Jock in less than a second. "That's _disgusting!_ "

Shortly after she said that, the Rebel found his voice again, "You won't accept a guy's tongue in your mouth and you're gonna eat _that?_ " Judging by his disturbed tone, it was obvious that he agreed with my sister.

Claire pierced Roxy with the snobby stink eye, but kept her words directed to Bender, "Can I eat?"

"I don't know..." Bender cautiously shook his head, holding back a gag, "...give it a try..."

Roxanne sarcastically shrugged, already bored with the conversation, "Whatever, Princess. Enjoy your food poison, I guess."

After glaring at her for a couple of more seconds, Claire turned away and started to poke at her lunch with her chopsticks.

"So, Comrade," Roxy said. She uncrossed her arms and glanced back over towards me, placing her hands down on her knee. "What did Бабушка pack for me?" ' _Grandma._ '

"Uh, I'm not sure. Let me check." I sat our paper bags down on the table and opened the one that had Roxy's name fancily printed on it. As I rummaged through its contents and pulled out the multiple plastic containers, I ignored how Bender and Brian had shifted themselves around in their seats so they could watch. "It looks like you got a peanut butter and banana sandwich, some leftover fruit salad from last night, a cinnamon muffin, and..." I pulled out the last item, which was a bright purple straw with a medium-sized glass jar. "Homemade Okroshka."

A smile peeled widely across Roxy's face at my last word, exposing some of her teeth. At the same time, Bender's eyes widened in disbelief and Brian's jaw practically dropped down to the floor at the sight of the jar. Allison, on the other hand, was smirking in satisfaction as she watched the scene from the corner of her eye. She _loved_ all of my grandma's baked treats and homemade meals, even though a majority of them looked _nothing_ like the food here in Chicago.

The preppies turned around in their chairs, looking at me like I had just attempted walking through a wall.

"Okro- _what?_ " Sporto asked, sounding more hypercritical than confused.

" _Okro-sh-ka_." I answered, purposely stretching out the pronunciation. I swear, it was like I was talking to a bunch of kindergartners.

"It's a Russian delicacy." Roxy informed. I held the jar a little higher up into the air and tilted it from side to side, making the milky substance inside swoosh around like water. The disgust thickened on everyone's faces, excluding the Recluse. "Cold soup that's mixed from sour cream, kvass, and raw vegetables," Roxy went on, still making it sound like should've been obvious to these idiots, "cucumbers, radishes, and spring onions to be exact. There's also boiled chunks of potatoes, eggs, and beef in it."

I removed the top from the jar, refusing to pay attention to how the Princess narrowed her eyes and twisted her nose as she watched. Then, after I dropped the lid down onto the table with a small _clink,_ I slid the straw into the soup and took a moment to stir the ingredients around. The Athlete tightly pressed his lips together, almost making them look like they had vanished from the rest of his face.

"All right, Rox," I said as I muddled our hands close together so she could take the jar, "bon appetit."

After I was sure that she had a firm grip on it, I pulled my hands back and started removing the lids from the Tupperware.

The silence seemed to thicken as Roxy ran her fingers along the rim of the jar, staring blankly ahead as she tried to locate the straw. When she found it, she took a glance around the room, supposedly daring the rest of the detainees to keep watching her. At last, she placed the straw in her mouth and started to slurp the Okroshka. Brian and Andrew almost instantly adverted their eyes, as if they just saw a rat that was in the middle of chewing down on a month-old corpse. Unfortunately, Bender continued to watch. He lowered the eyebrow that had been raised and formed a small, but very fascinated smirk as he stared at Roxy's lips.

Claire released a disturbed huff, causing the other detention goers to look at her immediately. "And you say _my lunch_ is revolting?" she asked, sounding completely judgmental once again.

I rolled my eyes, "At least you won't find hers in a cat's litter box, Gingersnap."

Claire scowled, but refused to say anything back. Instead, she gave me the cold shoulder - like I actually gave a shit - and continued to prod at her sushi with a bitter glint in her eyes.

Then, just as I was about to reach into my paper bag, I stopped to watch Andrew as he began to unpack his lunch. He pulled out a jumbo bag of potato chips, one ... two ... _three_ sandwiches, a package of chocolate chip cookies, and a carton of milk. My eyes widened, but before Andrew could sit his _Happy Foods_ bag aside, he paused and pulled out two more items: a banana and an apple. Finally, he dropped his bag back down to the floor and scooted in, getting more comfortable before he started to unwrap one of the sandwiches. Roxy stopped drinking her soup and arched an eyebrow in his direction.

"Damn, Jockstrap," I said, flicking my eyes back and forth from him to his small feast, "you brought a mini-fridge with you?"

The Jock rolled his eyes, but I turned my head away from him and locked my eyes on the Basket Case at the sound of something fizzing. She had just cracked open her Coke and was now loudly slurping it up from the table, paying no attention to the Nerd that was watching her. A small smirk curled up on the corners of my lips and I let out a slight chuckle. Just then, from the corner of my eye, I noticed Andrew turn to look at the amused Bender. Until now, he hadn't noticed that the Rebel and the Diva had been staring at him.

"What's your problem?" Andrew asked, unaware of the piece of lettuce that fell out of his sandwich and landed against the table.

I pulled the lemon out from the depths of my paper bag and glanced back at Allison. With a sickened glint in her eyes, she peeled off the piece of meat that was on her sandwich and flung it over her shoulder. I breathed a quick laugh, hiding my smile in my wrist to prevent myself from cracking up in front of the rest of the detainees. The bologna flew through the air and slapped into the 'head' of the statue, sticking there for a few seconds. Allison then rolled up her sleeves and opened a couple of Pixy-Stix by hitting them against the table. After that, she proceeded to pour the sugar all over the two slices of bread; but not without snaking some up with her tongue.

I kept my eyes on her, too entertained to look away as I took a giant bite out of my lemon. At the same time, Roxy turned her head and cracked a grin at the sound of Allison taking a loud slurp from her Coke before gargling it around in her mouth. After that, the Basket Case poured the remains of the sugar onto her sandwich and slid the now empty straws into her soda. Bender and Brian stared at her awkwardly, just as she scooped out a handful of Cap'n Crunch from a plastic bag and rained it down onto her sandwich. Andrew and Claire turned around at the sound of her crushing the cereal underneath her hand, right before she scooped out another handful and did the same thing.

Brian's lips twitched in disgust as Allison carefully folded the sandwich back together and lifted it up to her mouth. Finally, after she realized that everybody's eyes were on her, she took a huge bite out of her creation and filled the air with an echoing _CRUNCH._ As she chewed, the other detention goers - except for me - slowly turned back around in their seats. Roxy made sure to send the Recluse a thumbs-up before she went back to enjoying her lunch. Shortly after that, Allison sent me a stealthy wink; and as I took another bite out of my lemon, I winked back.

Suddenly, the Criminal stood up from his chair and smirked slightly at my sister before he walked across the aisle. He snatched up Brian's paper bag, replacing it with a Coke before he seated himself beside the Geek and folded his hands on the table.

"What are we having?" Bender asked, making me roll my eyes.

Brian looked at him uncomfortably, "Uh, it's your standard, regular lunch, I guess."

Roxy glanced in their direction, nibbling on a piece of cantaloupe that she had picked up from her fruit salad.

Bender reached into Brian's bag and pulled out a pastel orange thermos, setting it down. "Milk?" he asked with a vague, insulting smirk.

"Soup." Brian corrected, pointing at the container.

The Burnout reached in again, slapping the Wimp's hand when he attempted to get his bag back. Then, after a few seconds of rummaging, the darker-haired teen pulled out a little box of juice.

"Uh, that's apple juice." Brian mumbled as he gently rubbed his hand.

"I can read!" Bender remarked, glaring sharply at the scrawnier teen before he pulled out the final item. A sandwich. "PB&J with the crusts cut off. Well, Brian, this is a very nutritious lunch. All of the food groups are represented." He stared at Brian mockingly, his hands folded again. "Did your mom marry Mr. Rogers?"

Brian stared at him like he was serious, "Uh, no, Mr. Johnson..."

Claire and Andrew looked at each other, exchanging amused grins as they chewed. At the same time, I shook my head and muttered, "Глупый осел..." under my breath, right before I bit off another chunk of my lemon. ' _Stupid ass..._ '

"Ah." The Criminal sarcastically nodded, as if he finally understood who the Nerd's dad was. "Here's my impression _of life_ at Big Bri's house." He suddenly stood up from his chair and walked down the aisle, stopping when he was standing directly beside Roxy's seat. Allison leaned a little forward, sucking on her fingers as she watched Bender with slight interest in her eyes. Something about that caused my face to feel a little hot. She shouldn't have been looking at _him_ like that; but I ignored it as much as I could and watched the Rebel as he flew his hand up to his mouth and began this weird skit.

"Son!" His voice was loud and annoyingly nice.

He then poked his fingers into his cheeks, making it look like he had dimples, "Yeah, Dad?"

"How's your day, pal?" His hand was cuffed at the side of his mouth again.

"Great, Dad!" He switched back over to the kiddie tone. "How's yours?"

Brian's cheeks grew bright pink in embarrassment, just as Bender staged his overly jolly old man again.

"Super! Say, son, how'd you like to go _fishing_ this weekend?" At the word 'fishing', the Criminal flicked his wrist, making it look like he was casting a line.

"Great, Dad!" A phony, childish pout suddenly slipped across his face. "But I've got homework to do!"

"That's all right, son!" Bender flashed that large, fatherly smile again. "You can do it on the boat!"

A small, delighted gasp filled the air, followed by, "Geee!"

Andrew's grin started to waver, transforming into what almost looked like a vague mask of guilt.

"Dear, isn't our son swell?" Bender asked, right before he turned and introduced a new, more feminine voice. "Yes, Dear. Isn't _life_ swell?" He was obviously impersonating the Nerd's mom.

Roxy narrowed her eyes, clearly not amused.

Allison was in the middle of chewing on her thumb, no longer looking interested in what the Hooligan was doing.

"Oh!" Bender pretended to be the father kissing the mother, and then vice versa. After that, he glanced back over at Brian and a sneer crossed his face. Keeping his arm positioned in the air like it was wrapped around someone's shoulders, the darker-haired teen pretended to punch at who I could only assume was 'Brian's mom'. At last, Bender walked back to his table and sat down on the edge; but not without 'accidentally' stroking his fingers against the side of Roxy's shoulder. She instantly leaned away from his touch, still glaring.

Brian looked beyond uneasy by this point. His face was almost the exact same shade of pink as Claire's blouse. He swallowed thickly and glanced down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with any of the other detainees. It was like he was trying his hardest not to cry.

Noticing this, the Jock flicked his attention back over to the Delinquent. "All right, what about your family?" he asked.

Bender gestured to himself sarcastically, "Who, mine?"

Sporto nodded vaguely, "Yeah."

"It's real easy." With a tiny shrug, Bender stood back up and walked back down the aisle. Again, he froze beside my sister's chair; but this time, there was no humor etched across his face. He scratched his neck and then rubbed the side of his face, indicating a stubble before he pointed a finger at something that wasn't there.

"Stupid, worthless," the tone that he was using was dark and gruff, "no-good, goddamn freeloading son of a bitch. Retarded, big mouth, know-it-all, asshole, jerk." There was a small pause, at which Bender crossed his arms over his chest and eyed the ceiling with this glazed over glint in his eyes. "You forgot ugly, lazy, and disrespectful..." The new voice that he was using indicated an intoxicated woman, but it changed back to the raspy tone as he 'backhanded her' and bellowed, "Shut up, bitch! Go fix me a turkey pot pie!"

In the blink of an eye, Roxy's scowl crumbled away from her face and she tensed up in her chair. She turned her head away from Bender's direction and dropped her attention down to her lap as she nervously nibbled on a grape.

"What about you, Dad?" Bender asked, pointing at thin air. After that, he curled his fingers into a fist and mimicked his old man again, "Fuck you."

"No, Dad. What about you?"

The impatience sharply increased in 'his father's' voice, "Fuck you!"

"No, Dad!" The Criminal yelled, making the Handicapped raise her shoulders and wince a little. "What. About. You?!"

"FUCK YOU!" With a furious scowl plastered on his face, Bender threw a punch at the air and flew his head back, staging his dad hitting him. "Bam! Ugh!"

That time, it was me who flinched; but I quickly covered it up by taking another bite out of my lemon.

For a moment, the whole library fell silent. The air was thick and intense.

Claire was clearly uncomfortable, watching Bender with slightly wide eyes as he unclenched his jaw and slowly straightened himself back up.

"Is that for real?" Brian asked in a small, slightly jittery voice.

The Rebel pierced him with a look that was almost demonic, "You want to come over some time?"

"That's bullshit." Andrew butted in, unfazed by the scowl that Bender immediately shot him. "It's all part of your image. I don't believe a word of it."

My eyes bugged out of my skull a bit, but I could've sworn flames flared up inside of them. At the same time, Roxy's mouth dropped open, making it obvious that she couldn't believe Jockstrap just said that.

"You don't believe me?" Bender asked, sounding a little hurt and very pissed off.

Andrew replied with no concern in his voice, "No..."

The flames grew hotter and larger in my eyes.

Bender repeated Sporto, "No?" It was almost like he was daring the Athlete to say that word again.

"Did I stutter?"

The Criminal's glare grew darker. He stalked towards Wrestle Mania, everyone's eyes following him until he froze in his tracks and held out his arm directly in front of the Jock's face. Bender then tugged up the sleeve of his white undershirt, exposing a circular burn scar that was printed a little below the crease of his elbow. He was so pissed to the point where his veins were popping out of his skin. At the sight of the injury, Andrew and Claire quickly adverted their eyes.

"Do you believe this? Huh?" Bender demanded. He leaned in a little closer to Sporto, using his other hand to point at the scar. "It's about the size of a cigar. _Do I stutter?_ "

At the word 'cigar', Roxy cringed and the color faded a little from her face; but then, she tried to distract herself by taking a sip of her Coke.

Andrew tried eagerly to get out of the darker-haired teen's face, but Bender wasn't letting him off the hook that easy.

"See, _this_ is what you get in my house when you spill paint in the garage." When the Athlete didn't respond, the Delinquent pulled his sleeve back down and started backing away. "See, I don't think that I need to sit with you _fuckin' dildos_ anymore." He held his hands up and turned away, refusing to look at me or Roxy as he stormed past our table and approached a counter that was covered by perfectly arranged encyclopedias. With a piercing scream of rage, Bender shoved them off and hopped up on top of the counter. Despite how angry I looked, I couldn't help but flinch again.

"Fuck!" Bender exclaimed, right before he climbed up the bars of the staircase and leaped over the railing. Then, at the sound of him slamming his feet against the platform, Roxy clamped her eyes shut and grimaced. Finally, the Hoodlum sat down with his backside facing me and the rest of the detention goers. He kept his legs dangling over the edge as he folded his arms on top of one of the bars and rested his forehead against the railing, breathing hard.

Allison slowly glanced away from him and locked her eyes on Andrew, clearly stunned.

Claire peeked up from her lap, almost sounding guilty as she spoke to Jockstrap, "You shouldn't have said that."

"How'd I know?" Andrew asked, already quick to defend himself. He stared at her for a few seconds before looking away. "I mean, he lies about everything anyway."

I sharply narrowed my eyes and scoffed in disbelief, "What in the hell is wrong with you, _Sporto?_ " I made sure to enhance the venom in my accent while addressing the Jock. In less than a second, everyone in the room - except for Bender - snapped their attention over to me. "You think abuse is meant to be treated like a joke? Because I don't see what's so damn funny about it!" I snarled.

"I didn't say that it was a joke!" Andrew exclaimed as he shot a slight scowl at me. "I just thought-"

"That Bender was _lying_ about what goes on in his life outside of this place!" I cut him off snidely. "He may be an aggravating son of a bitch, but that doesn't give _you_ the right to declare what his home life is like! In case you don't know, Sporto, not _all_ parents buy their kids fancy varsity jackets and show up to cheer them on during their wrestling matches!" I stood up from my seat, but refused to break my murderous stare away from the Athlete. "The next time one of your classmates say that they're being abused, do the universe a favor. Pull your head out of your ass and actually _listen_ for a change."

I didn't give Andrew a chance to say anything back. Instead, I pushed my chair back in and walked over to the ramp, feeling everyone's eyes following me as I did so.

"Comrade," Roxy sighed, just as I jumped over the railing and landed perfectly on my feet, "what are you going to do?"

"Something stupid." I replied flatly. After that, the whole library fell silent again and I approached the stairs, taking them two at a time. The higher I got, the more I couldn't believe what I was about to do. I _despised_ John Bender ... and after all of the shit that he's caused so far today, I was actually going to talk to him. By the time I made it to where he was sitting, I leaned against the railing and arched my eyebrows as I spoke sarcastically, "You know that there's a much easier way to walk up the stairs, right?"

Bender pierced me with a vicious glare, "What in the hell are you doing up here, Russian Roulette?"

"Oh, you know..." I let out a loud, obviously exaggerated sigh and helped myself to a spot on the platform. I made sure that a fair amount of distance remained between me and the Rebel. "I just wanted to take the time to get a good view of this shitty prison ... just one more year before we're free from it." I sort of mumbled the last sentence to myself, staring down at the top of the statue's 'head' with no direct emotion shown on my face. Although, there were still some impatient flames in my eyes.

"I swear, _Comrade,_ " Bender growled with pure hatred etched across his entire face, "if you came up here to 'help me' or some shit like that, I'm going to-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, _John!_ " The firmness sharply enhanced in my voice. "If you _really_ think that I came up here to _comfort you,_ you sure as hell are in for a disappointment!"

The Criminal darkly narrowed his eyes at me, "Why don't you _back off_ and go binge drink some vodka like your people do or something?"

" _Stop_ ignoring the facts, Rebellion 101." I sneered, choosing to ignore that irritating stereotype that he kept throwing in my face. "Ignoring them doesn't make them go away. It just makes them even harder to put up with." Bender looked away and scoffed, but I went on like he hadn't. "No matter how pissed you get, it won't change how people like Wrestle Mania will _never_ understand what it's like to be hated and pushed around by the ones in your life who are supposed to love and protect you."

"So you're backing him up? You're on his side?" Bender asked. His voice had noticeably sharpened, but I could still detect the tiny hint of hurt that was buried underneath all of his anger.

It was my turn to scoff. "Hell will freeze over the moment I decide to _ever_ side with you or any of the other assholes in this detention. I'm not on anybody's side. Neither is my sister." When all I got in response that time was pure silence from the Hooligan, I continued. "Whether you like it or not, people talk shit. No matter what you do, you can't stop them. That's just the way life is, especially in this hell hole that's known as high school. Life isn't fair and it never will be."

Bender rolled his eyes, clearly growing more annoyed. "Have you ever considered getting a job on the suicide hotline?" he asked.

I ignored his sarcasm, despite how much I was starting to debate whether or not I should just shove him down the stairs. "Look, if you're _that_ pissed over what Andrew said, you should really just get it through your head that he's just one asshole that doesn't know what he's talking about. The faster you accept that, the better." I removed my arms from where they were folded on top of the bar and crossed them over my chest. "If you _really_ can't handle some punk-ass jock talking trash now, I don't see how you're going to deal with the future. Seriously, why don't you just _ignore_ Sporto?"

"I thought you said to _stop ignoring the facts._ " Bender remarked, horribly mimicking my accent at his final four words.

"For your information, you dipshit," I growled, "ignoring the facts and ignoring people are two entirely different things. Hiding from reality by throwing tantrums and pretending that it isn't there doesn't make it change or go away. Ignoring people who are nothing but pricks that treat you like shit..." I paused for a moment, recalling some unpleasant memories with my alcoholic old man. The firmness in my voice faltered just a little bit, and I tugged lightly at the bottom of my sleeves. "...It'll help you forget about them and you'll _eventually_ be able to move on."

When the Delinquent didn't say anything back, I turned my head to see if he was even listening. That's when I noticed that he was eyeing the rip in my T-shirt and the Band-Aid that was plastered over my scar. I quickly pulled my flannel shut, causing him to make eye contact with me.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Bender sneered like he hadn't been looking at my side. "You know _shit_ about what I go through!"

 _That_ was the last straw. My face instantly hardened into a scowl that was practically demonic.

"All right, _that's it!_ I've had _enough!_ " I bellowed at the top of my lungs, almost instantly gaining the attention of the Nerd, the Basket Case, and the Handicapped from down below. I reached up and roughly grabbed the railing, pulling myself back up onto my feet. "You think you're the _only one_ in the whole universe who has been subjected to abuse and trapped in a difficult home life? Because you're not! There are millions of other people stuck in the same situation! It isn't _just you!_ " I clenched my eyes shut, seething in rage as I tried eagerly to shove aside as many of the dark and depressing thoughts as I could.

My mother's bloody, lifeless body and old man's cruel voice were on my mind as I popped my eyes back open. "I don't even know why I wasted my time in coming up here to talk to you!" I barked, still glaring fiercely at the Rebel. "I swear, you are such an asshole! You're not even worth it!"

I could've sworn that I saw Bender flinch, but I didn't care. I turned my back on him, grumbling a long string of curse words in Russian under my breath. If I stayed up here any longer, I was bound to commit murder. However, before I could manage taking my first step down the stairs, I felt Bender snatch a hold of the hem of my jeans. I nearly tripped from the unexpected grab, but quickly caught a hold of the railing and regained my balance before I could go toppling down the stairs.

"You're not going anywhere, Russian Massacre." Bender spoke like he wasn't effected by anything I'd just said. "I need your help to get something."

I pulled my ankle out of his grasp and turned back around. "Excuse me?" A mixture of anger and disbelief was wrapped around my accent.

"Yeah. Dick always leaves his office around this time to go to the Faculty Lounge." The Thug helped himself up from the floor and stared directly into my eyes like I was supposed to know where he was going with this.

"So?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Bender rolled his eyes at my lack of understanding and flicked some of his hair out of his face, " _So,_ what time would be better for us to sneak out and go get something from my locker with Vernon away?"

My eyes widened a little and I scoffed, "What in the hell makes you think I'm going anywhere with _you?_ "

"We wouldn't be gone long." Judging by Bender's voice, he was starting to grow irritated with me all over again. "All I need from you is to be a lookout for Rich anyway."

"So you can gather whatever shit you want from your locker and shove me out to get caught while you hightail your ass back here?" I shook my head, scowling again. "John, I ain't stupid. The only way that I'm leaving this library with you is if my sister and those other dumbasses are tagging along, too."

By this point, Bender looked like he was seconds away from hitting me. "All right, fine. Let's go tell them." He attempted to walk past me, but I immediately blocked his path and made eye contact with him again.

"And another thing, Rebellion 101," I said, "before we go to your locker, we have to stop by the Basket Case's first."

" _What?_ " Clearly confused, the Criminal peeked over the railing and cocked an eyebrow at the sight of Allison chowing down on the remains of her sandwich. "Why in the hell do you want to stop by _her_ locker?" Scorn and slight disgust dripped from his voice at the word 'her', making me narrow my eyes at him dangerously.

"You need to get something from your locker and I need to get something from hers. It's _that_ clear-cut." I crossed my arms over my chest and watched as Bender impatiently clenched and unclenched his jaw a few times. "Well, asshole, what do you say?"

" _Fine._ We can go to the Wacko's locker first." The dangerous glint in my eyes grew sharper at the sound of Bender calling Allison a wacko, but before I could open my mouth to defend her, Bender went on. "But I'm warning you, Russian Roulette," he jabbed me in the chest with his finger, "if Dick busts us before we get a chance to go to my locker, I'm going to make it my number one priority to beat your ass."

I scoffed, turning my back on him as I muttered, "Like I haven't heard _that_ threat before." After that, I started walking down the staircase and the darker-haired teen waited until I made it halfway before he decided to follow. Once we reached the bottom and hopped back over the ramp's railing, the rest of the detainees almost instantly snapped their attention over to us. I swear, it was shocking that none of them received whiplash. Brian, Claire, and Andrew stiffened a little in their chairs, looking like they were preparing themselves for another fit from the Burnout. Roxy and Allison, on the other hand, looked genuinely curious.

"All right, dumbasses," Bender announced as he snatched his denim jacket up from his table and slipped it on, "up on your feet. Come on, let's go."

Confusion slipped across the Redhead's face, "What?"

"I said _let's go._ " Bender repeated in a much slower tone, as if that would help her understand. "We don't have all day."

"Where are we going?" Andrew asked, sounding more demanding than confused.

I shot him a warning glare and answered sarcastically, "On a field trip."

Brian's eyes widened, almost making him look like a stunned toddler, "But we're not supposed to leave the library."

"Who gives a shit?" I asked with a small roll of my eyes. "It's not like Mr. _Vermin_ is going to find out that we're gone. We'll be out and right back within ten minutes. He'll never know that we left."

"What in the hell is taking you all so long? Come on already!" Bender ordered, already heading towards the library's main entrance. "Move it, pricks!"

Claire and Andrew exchanged glances, hesitating for a couple of seconds before they stood up from their seats and followed after him. Brian nervously twirled his thumbs around, looking back and forth from his table to the preps and the Delinquent a few times. Finally, he caved into whatever pressure that he was feeling from being such a Goody-Two-Shoes and trailed after them, still running like he had a wedgie.

Roxy groaned and carefully rose from her chair, just as Allison quickly retrieved her bag from the floor and slipped the strap over her head.

"Товарищ, ты уверен что это хорошая идея?" Roxy asked as she ran her hand up my arm and gripped my shoulder. ' _Comrade, are you sure that this is a good idea?_ '

"Нет," I mumbled, clearly still annoyed from Bender, "но не волнуйтесь. Я не позволю ничего случиться с вами." ' _No, but don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you.'_

Without another word, I started escorting the Handicapped to the library's main door with the Basket Case following just seconds later.

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 **A/N: That's another completed chapter! :D :D :) :)**

 **I hope you all enjoyed it! :) Please keep in mind that I love receiving feedback and it's my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter. :) Feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. I admire all of your feedback! :) :) All of you rock! :D :D**

 **By the way, in case any of you are wondering what 'Kvass' is, it's a non-alcoholic beverage that's popular in Russia. :)**

 **Fun Fact About Me: I now have six "The Breakfast Club" shirts. XD**

 **Also, I created a poll on who is your top two favorite characters in "The Breakfast Club". In case any of you want to check that out, it's displayed on my page. :)**

 **Well, everyone, I believe that's everything for this. Please review! :D :D :) :)**

 **Until the next update, all of my fantastic viewers! Happy reading and writing to you all!** **God bless! :) :) :D :D**

 **Crystalteen, out!**

 **THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!**


	10. My Maid's On Vacation

**A/N: Hello again, all of my amazing viewers! :D**

 **Who's ready for the next chapter of "The Reality Check & The Handicapped"? I know I am! :)**

 **Nonetheless, before we begin, I would like to thank swishyla and Guest for reviewing the previous chapter. Thank you so very much for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. :) It means so much to me. :) I would also like to thank everyone who has added this story to their favorites and follows, as well as all of the ones who enjoy reading it. Seriously, you are all awesome! :D :D Thank you so much, everyone! :) :)**

 **Remember, receiving feedback makes my day! My goal still stands at getting at least four reviews per chapter, so feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. :) I appreciate all of your feedback very much. :) Thanks!**

 **Fun Fact: Anthony Michael Hall's mom and little sister play his character's (Brian's) mom and little sister in the beginning of the movie. Also, at the end, John Hughes (Lord, rest his soul) played the role of Brian's father while picking him up.**

 **Well, I believe I shared everything that I wanted to. It's time to begin the chapter, so please sit back, relax, and enjoy. :)**

 **Please review! Happy reading, everyone! :D :D**

* * *

Comrade's POV

By the time me, Roxy, and Allison made it to where the other detainees were waiting by the door, Bender had his ear placed intently against it. Andrew was glaring at him, clenching and unclenching his jaw in annoyance as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. Brian, on the other hand, was looking down at the floor with his shoulders slumped like he had just realized that he received a _B_ instead of an _A_ on an assignment. His eyes kept flickering back and forth from his weirdly colored shoes to the Delinquent, making it obvious that he was still uneasy about sneaking out of the library. And lastly, Claire was standing between the two of them, tapping her foot against the floor with her arms crossed over her flat chest like she was waiting impatiently for a sale to start.

"Hey, Russian Beauty." Bender turned his head and looked at my sister with a smirk fiddling around with the corners of his lips. "Would you like to do the honor of using your enhanced hearing to tell the rest of us when Dick passes by?"

Roxy rolled her eyes and carefully stepped out from where she was sandwiched between me and Allison as she replied, "Not really, but I will." Her accent was dry and vaguely offended, considering there was no bright side to being blind.

In less than a second, Claire's cheeks flared up, beating redder than her Ronald McDonald haircut. She bitterly narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips tightly together, making her jealousy evident as she watched Roxy extend her arm out in front of her and gently rest her hand against the door. After that, she leaned in and placed her ear against it, unaware of how she was looking directly at Bender's face as she listened for any noises in the hallway. There was still a gap of space between the two of them, but it was too small for my liking.

Satisfaction lit up in the Criminal's eyes, just as a pale blush swept across his cheeks. He stared right into her bright gray orbs and swallowed thickly as he watched her bat her eyelashes in deep concentration every few seconds. His attention then dropped down to her mouth, making his interest increase. He ran the tip of his tongue across the bottom of his upper lip, looking like he was debating whether or not he should just kiss her right then and there. Noticing this, I crossed my arms over my chest and sharply narrowed my eyes at him.

"John," I spoke up before he could attempt lowering his gaze any further, "have you ever wondered what it felt like to be hit in the Adam's apple?"

With no hesitation, the fascination vanished from Bender's face and was replaced by a warning scowl. He opened his mouth to say something back, but before he could get a word out, he was cut off when Roxy began to talk.

"Coffee ... looks like they scrape it off the bottom of the Mississippi River." Judging by the gruff and mocking tone that she was using, it was obvious that she was impersonating the Principal. That could only mean one thing: he was passing by. Immediately, Brian tensed up and Allison clapped her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from cracking up. "Everything's polluted," Roxy went on, resulting in her receiving an eye roll from Claire and another small smirk from Bender, "everything's polluted ... the coffee." She stopped and leaned away from the door, no longer mimicking Vernon. "All right, he's gone. If we're really going to do this, we better do it now and get it over with."

"Um, guys," Brian chimed in, stuttering a little, "uh, are we _really_ sure that we should be doing this? I mean, if Vernon catches us, we'll be-"

"He's _not_ going to catch us." I interrupted him, already sounding bored with the whole situation. I eyed the ceiling for a couple of seconds, waiting until Roxy gripped my shoulder again before I turned my head and locked my eyes on the Dork. "Listen, Small Fry," my accent grew serious, "you _really_ need to stop getting scared of every little risk that there is in life and learn how to take chances. Or, in simpler terms, man the hell up and grow a pair."

Brian's face burned in humiliation and he silently dropped his head back down to the floor, slumping his shoulders again. At the same time, Bender pushed the door open and cautiously stuck his head out, examining the hall. After confirming that the coast was clear, he stepped out and motioned for the rest of us to follow him. Claire was the next one to leave, but not without peeking out to make sure that the Principal really was out of sight. Andrew and Brian followed after her, standing side-by-side. And lastly, Allison and I walked out with Roxy sandwiched between the two of us again.

"So, Russian Roulette," Bender said, making it sound completely normal to be walking through Shermer's deserted hallways on a Saturday, "let's get this over with. Where's the Wacko's locker at?"

Allison's face immediately twisted into a glare at the sound of the Criminal calling her a wacko. Her lips parted with a sneer, exposing her vaguely clenched teeth; but other than that, she remained silent and stared darkly ahead.

" _Stop_ calling her a wacko, you shithead." I snarled as I jammed my fists into the pockets of my worn out jeans, battling the urge to punch him. "It's right across the hall from Mr. Tierney's room, so we'll need to pass by the Faculty Lounge and walk down the Science Wing to get there."

As soon as the words 'Faculty Lounge' came out of my mouth, Bender shot his attention over his shoulder and stared directly at me like the other detention goers were no longer there. A bitter scowl was plastered on his face, and I knew exactly why. Back on the platform, he had told me that Dick usually stopped by the Faculty Lounge at this time, which meant that our adventure to Allison's locker would definitely increase our chances of getting busted. But knowing Vernon, he would be too busy flipping through a trashy magazine or badmouthing some of the other staff members to himself to notice us sneak by.

Still glaring, Bender turned back around and made his way around the upcoming corner. The Princess quickly sped up to his side with a mask of curiosity covering her face; but she was still swooshing her scrawny hips with every step she took, no doubt trying to get the Rebel to notice her like he was noticing Roxy. I swear, all her spoiled ass thought about was shopping, makeovers, expensive cars, and sleeping with as many guys as she could.

"How do you know where Vernon went?" Claire asked.

Without sparing her the smallest glance, Bender answered dishonestly, "I don't." He clearly didn't want to inform her and the other detainees about how we were going to pass by where the Principal currently was. The last thing we needed in this situation was any of them objecting.

Claire frowned a little at Bender's inattentive tone. "Well, how do you know when he'll be back?" she asked in another attempt to get him to look at her.

"I don't." Beginning to sound as annoyed as he looked, the Hoodlum turned his head and stared at the Redhead dully. "Being bad feels pretty good, huh?" He sarcastically raised his eyebrows and picked up the pace, leaving Claire to falter a little in disbelief since he didn't show the slightest bit of interest in her.

Brian watched the two of them for a moment before flicking his attention over to Andrew. "What's the point of going to Allison and Bender's lockers?" he asked.

Jockstrap, with a glare still printed across his face, answered without looking at him, "Beats me."

"This is so stupid." I rolled my eyes at the Dweeb's statement, despite how a piece of me actually agreed with him. "Why do you think-" He stopped and revised, semi-frantically gesturing his hands around. "W-why are we risking getting caught?"

"I don't know." Andrew replied, sounding like he was seconds away from wrapping his hands around Brian's neck and choking him.

"So then what are we doing?" the scrawnier teen asked with a shrug.

The Jock's face began to redden, "You ask me one more question and I'm beating the shit out of you."

Roxy glared in the direction of his voice, but said nothing. I, on the other hand, shook my head a little in annoyance and mumbled, "Похоже _кто-то_ был выскакивают слишком много стероидов." under my breath. ' _Sounds like_ someone _has been popping too many steroids._ '

Brian's voice became meek, despite the fear that was in his eyes, "Sorry..."

After that, everything became silent for about three minutes. The Criminal escorted me and the other detention goers around another corner, still unfazed by the Queen Bee's frisky walk; but just as the seven of us made it to the middle of the next hallway and were about to walk by the wide-open doorway of the Teacher's Lounge, the sound of something being hit filled the air. It was none other than Mr. Vernon, who was currently in the middle of a one-on-one fight with the vending machine. Roxy tightened her grip a little on my shoulder from not expecting the noise, just as Bender slowed down and motioned for the rest of us to stop. As soon as we did, he carefully leaned forward and peeped into the room.

"Oh, come on. I know you're in there." Vernon growled at the machine as he roughly rattled one of the buttons around. "Oh, please ... please don't be..."

The Thug quickly darted across the doorway. When he successfully made it to the other side, he turned back around and signaled for me and the other detainees to follow his example.

Knowing that she was next, the Diva nervously scrunched up her face and peeked in at the Principal.

"Come on! Come on!" Dick barked, growing angrier by the minute. He hit the vending machine a couple of times before continuing to screw around with the buttons. "My moneys good, dammit!"

Claire pursed her lips at his 'improper behavior' and marched across the doorway, looking like she was trying to balance books on top of her head.

It was the Athlete's turn now.

"I got one luxury in this world!" Mr. Vernon bellowed, just as Andrew took off running like Pinocchio across the doorway. "One luxury!"

Roxy rolled her eyes and quietly muttered with scorn dripping from her accent, "Я клянусь, что он единственный кто жалуется больше чем принцесса." ' _I swear, he's the only one who complains more than the Princess._ '

The Geek was practically hugging the wall, staring anxiously at the Jock, the Snob, and the Delinquent. He slowly inched himself closer to the door until he was close enough to catch the tiniest view of the Principal.

"Come on! Goddammit!" As Dick kicked the vending machine for about the millionth time, Brian sprinted across the door and joined the others. That just left me, the Handicapped, and the Basket Case. Roxy and I had no direct emotion shown on either of our faces, but Allison was still wearing the vicious scowl that Bender had caused when he addressed her as a wacko.

The three of us walked together, taking our time like this was any other school day; but instead of walking across the door, we purposely stopped right in front of it. Andrew and Claire watched with huge eyes, looking like two deer that were caught in headlights. At the same time, slight worry began to form in Bender's eyes as he focused only on Roxy and Brian started to eagerly gesture around with his hands for us to hurry up. Nonetheless, while Roxy continued to casually stare ahead, Allison and I turned our heads and locked our eyes on Vernon.

"Come on!" He slammed his foot against the vending machine yet again and smacked it another three times, causing an amused smirk to curl up on the corners of my mouth. After that, the Principal placed his hands on his hips and sighed, "Please?"

"Damn," I whispered, continuing to watch him with a cunning glow in my eyes, "if he's like _that_ over losing a few dollars and a candy bar, I don't even want to picture what it's like when he's at home and his wife isn't in the mood to sleep with him."

The Recluse flashed me half of a smug grin, just as my sister bit down on her bottom lip and hid her face in my arm to keep herself from chuckling. For a few seconds longer, me and Allison watched Richard as he caught his breath, looking like he was officially about to give up on getting his treat from the vending machine.

"All right," Roxy whispered at last, "let's go before he catches us."

With a small nod, Allison glanced back at the other detention goers, only to have her cold glare return when her eyes met the Hoodlum. She tilted her head a little to the side and approached them like a zombie. Roxy and I were quick to follow her, but not before I got the chance to flick Mr. Vernon off. As soon as the three of us finished crossing the doorway, the shock from the Athlete and the Diva transformed into anger.

"What in the hell was _that?_ " Andrew asked. It was obvious that he was using all of his willpower to keep his voice in a whisper. "You guys could've gotten us _caught._ "

I raised my eyebrows at him and replied smartly, "But we didn't."

"You're nuts." Claire scorned, making it sound like that was the worst insult that someone could ever receive. "All three of you are."

"We're nuts, but we're cool." Roxy snidely retorted as she narrowed her eyes in the direction of the Redhead's voice. "Now, how about we get a move on? I want to get this 'field trip' over with so we can get back to the library."

The Criminal shot her a brief smirk before he signaled for us to continue following him, "You all heard the Russian Queen. Come on, we're almost there."

Claire scowled at my sister for a couple of seconds, but eventually turned away and pursued down the next hall - the Science Wing - with Bender. Brian and Andrew were practically on her heels, but Allison, Roxy, and I continued to simply walk. In the distance, I could've sworn that I heard the vending machine finally release Vernon's candy bar.

By this point, a majority of the walls that weren't occupied by lockers were covered in reminders to 'Sign Up For The Upcoming Science Fair' and 'Vote For Your Prom Queen'. There was also a 'Wet Floor' sign positioned in the middle of the hall, indicating that Carl must've been here recently. When we were about to pass it, the group split to opposite sides of the hall to avoid slipping. Brian, Andrew, Claire, and Bender stuck to the right while Roxy, Allison, and I took the left. Then, after we made it a fair distance away from the 'Wet Floor' sign, the seven of us rejoined. And at last, after making it to the end of the Science Wing, we arrived at the Basket Case's locker.

Partially faded images of remarkably drawn eyes, bandaged hearts, and random scribbles were scrawled across the yellow paint in black ink, making it stand out from the rest of the lockers. There were also two extra locks secured around the actual lock, giving the illusion that more than one combination was needed in order to get it open.

Bender crossed his arms over his chest and examined the locker with impatience flickering in his eyes, "All right, Comrade, make this fast."

I rolled my eyes at his commanding tone, but said nothing back. Allison stepped forward and grabbed the lock, positioning it in her hand so none of the detention goers - except for me - would be able to see her combination. She spun the dial around a few times before entering it: 23, 16, 25. Then, after the lock unfastened and she opened the locker, a sly grin broke widely across my face.

The interior of the door was decorated in a massive collage that was created out of old newspaper clippings and pieces of dully colored photos from magazines. Most of the pictures consisted of popular sights all around the world, as well as insanely thin models that Allison had drawn horns, tails, oversized glasses, and mustaches on. Also, in the back of the locker, dozens of sticky notes were stuck lopsidedly against the wall with quotes like 'Tell someone who gives a shit', 'I hate pink', and 'I'm eating my head' printed on them in somewhat scrawled handwriting. A line of blue and maroon tiki lights were tangled around the hooks and draping down the sides of the locker. And lastly, other than a jar of cat-eye marbles and a few sketchbooks that were surrounded by mostly used art supplies at the bottom, there was the item that I wanted to come here for: my electric guitar.

I reached in, grabbing its neck with one hand and the leather strap with the other. At last, I pulled it out and turned, exposing it more clearly to the rest of the detention goers.

Claire squinted, looking at me like I didn't deserve to be holding such a 'high class' instrument, "A guitar?"

"Gee, Princess." I said with an exaggerated amount of astonishment leaking from my accent. "Nothing gets past you, huh?"

She glared at me, but refused to say anything back.

"Why in the hell do you have _a guitar?_ " Bender questioned. Judging by the look on his face, he wasn't pleased with how I'd convinced him to postpone the trip to his locker for _this._

"To play." I bluntly replied as I slipped the leather strap over my head and positioned the black-and-red guitar across my back.

The darkness grew thicker in the Hooligan's eyes and voice, "Let me rephrase that ... why in the hell do you have a guitar _here?_ "

"Okay, is now _really_ the best time to be be playing Twenty Questions?" I demanded, already annoyed with the conversation. "If we're still planning to go to your locker, we better hurry our asses up before Dick realizes that we snuck out."

"He's right." Roxy chimed in from where she was now standing directly beside Allison, their arms interlocking. "We got to go."

At first, Bender showed no desire to forget about getting an explanation from me; but as soon as my sister spoke up, that changed. After carrying on our staring contest for a few more seconds, the darker-haired teen looked away and started walking down the hall, signaling for us to follow him to our next destination: his locker.

* * *

It took the seven of us about five minutes to make it to the Criminal's locker. It was impossible to miss, considering it was smothered in graffiti. The upper compartment read 'OPEN THIS LOCKER' with a long, horribly illustrated arrow printed next to it in black marker. It pointed down at the actual locker, where the words 'AND YOU DIE, FAG!' were printed underneath a piece of string that had been fashioned to look like a noose. I wanted to roll my eyes, but during mine and Roxy's first week here, I had drawn a skull and crossbones on my locker, along with the warning, "KEEP OUT, PRICKS!" In fact, I received my first ever detention in this shit hole for that.

My sister remained beside the Recluse while I sandwiched myself between the Jock and the Princess.

Bender fiddled around with his combination lock and opened the locker, only to have a homemade guillotine fall and slice off the top of a ratty red converse. Brian, Claire, and I gaped in disbelief, just as Roxy released a startled gasp at the sound. Although, Andrew seemed more fixated on the huge pile of garbage that Bender had lying around his - untouched - schoolbooks.

"Slob." Sporto sneered as he watched the Delinquent pull out a large and grubby looking bag from the upper compartment of his locker.

"My maid's on vacation." Bender remarked sarcastically.

Everyone watched in dead silence as he reached into the paper bag and pulled out a smaller bag from it. Then, after he shoved the first paper bag back into the top compartment of his locker, he unraveled the new bag and pulled out yet _another_ bag from it. Like the first bag, he stuffed the second one back into his locker before he reached into the newest one. At last, he dug out the item that he wanted: a plastic bag that contained weed. At the sight of it, Allison's mouth fell open and my eyes shot gigantic; but Bender acted perfectly natural and closed both parts of his locker, not bothering to lock it.

"Drugs..." the Brain declared, staring at the Rebel in astonishment as he pocketed the package.

At the sound of that word, Roxy's eyes widened and her jaw practically dropped down to the floor in shock.

"Screw that, Bender," Andrew snarled, "put it back!"

Nonetheless, Bender ignored him and walked off like none of us had seen anything.

"Drugs..." Brian mumbled again. He wiped some nervous beads of sweat away from his forehead and pointed over his shoulder. "The boy has Marijuana..."

Claire flashed him a slight, pitiful smile and walked after Bender without a word.

"That was Marijuana..." Brian repeated, still pointing.

I could've sworn that smoke was seconds away from flooding out of Jockstrap's ears as he nudged past the scrawnier teen, grumbling, "Shut up, dick."

Brian dropped his arm back down to his side and locked his attention on me, Roxy, and Allison. "Do you three approve of this?" he asked after a couple of seconds.

The Basket Case glared, clearly offended from being asked a question like that. At the same time, the Handicapped shook her head, too stunned by the Marijuana to say anything. As for me, I wasn't even looking at Nerd. Instead, I was staring down at the other end of the hall, piercing the Burnout's back with my sharply narrowed eyes. Still, I scoffed at Brian's question and answered it with venom laced around my voice, "Of course not, numskull."

With a small sigh, Brian turned around and walked away.

I crossed my arms over my chest, swearing under my breath in Russian. That bastard was pissed at me for adding time onto this little 'adventure' so I could get my _guitar,_ but yet, he was totally fine with sneaking out of the library and putting us at the risk of getting caught by Mr. Vernon for a stash of _weed._ I guess that I should've seen something like that coming from John Bender, but that didn't change how irritated I was right now.

Allison and Roxy slowly started to stalk forward, but suddenly stopped. I turned my head and raised an eyebrow at them, confused as to what the hold up was. Then, I found myself letting out a couple of snickers as I watched the Recluse remove Bender's combination lock from his locker and stuff it into her bag.

"Nice work, Klepto." I whispered, which immediately brought a smirk to Allison's face.

She sent me a wink, which I made sure to return before the two of us - including Roxy with her vague grin - hurried to catch up with the other detainees.

* * *

"We'll cross through the lab, and then we'll double back." Bender explained as he and Andrew walked side-by-side down the brightly lit corridor.

"You better be right." Sporto growled. The two of them froze in their tracks to look down both ways of the intersection, making sure that the Principal wasn't there. "If Vernon cuts us off, it's your fault, asshole."

They continued their walk down the right hall, only to have the Wimp and the Diva stop in the same place.

"What'd he say?" Brian asked worriedly. Claire rolled her eyes, not seeming to be paying any attention to the scrawnier teen as she walked after Andrew and Bender. "Where are we going?" Brian was quick to follow the Redhead's example.

The Basket Case, the Handicapped, and I stopped next.

Roxy continued to stare directly ahead, where a large red-white-and-blue poster that had the Pledge of Allegiance printed on it was plastered on the wall.

"Are we even going the right way?" she asked, sounding vaguely curious and very annoyed.

Allison cocked an eyebrow at me, as if she was asking the same question.

"I'll get back to you two on that." I replied flatly. "Come on."

The three of us - with me leading the way by a few inches - continued trekking after the dumbasses.

* * *

Shortly after I caught up with the rest of the group, I found myself jerking to a stop and muttering, "Holy _shit._ " My eyes felt like they were on the verge of popping out of their sockets when I saw Vernon, who was walking down another hallway with his back in our direction.

Out of reflex, I broke into a run with the Brain, the Athlete, the Princess, and the Criminal - only to come loping back in the direction that we came. The Recluse and the Handicapped were leaning against the bright yellow lockers with their arms still tangled together. Allison was watching the other detainees in what I could only assume was vague amusement, but my sister looked genuinely confused as to what was going on.

"Пора бежать, Rox!" I exclaimed as I bolted past her, but made sure not to go too far without her. ' _Time to run, Rox!_ '

That was all she needed to hear. In less than a second, she was racing by my side and practically dragging Allison along.

The air was knocked out of me a little as I glided across the floor and rammed into Andrew's side when the group noticed Dick striding down another hall. At the same time, Allison and Roxy broke away from each other from both of them not expecting the second stop. The Handicapped had kept running while the Basket Case skidded to a halt; but Brian - who had almost preformed the splits - caught a hold of Roxy's arm and began leading her back down in our previous direction. The Jock, on the other hand, almost made me tumble to the floor as he shoved me out of his way and kept running. I spun around on my heels and quickly followed.

Allison started to fall a little behind, so I grabbed her hand and interlocked our fingers to help her keep up. I could've sworn that I caught a glimpse of her face flushing, but I was sure that it was from the running and focused on Roxy as she stuck between Brian and Andrew.

The group dashed around a corner, only to freeze again. My sister released a muffled "Ooph!" as she bumped into the back of the Rebel's shoulder. There Mr. Vernon was, getting a drink from the water fountain at the opposite end of the hall. With no hesitation, Bender looped one of his arms around Roxy's waist and corrected her path, just as the other detainees - including me - started shoving each other back around the corner. It was the Criminal who now had his arm wrapped around the Handicapped's, the two of them leading the group.

Bender and Andrew started to occasionally look back, either making sure that all of us were still together or that Dick hadn't suddenly appeared out of thin air. I was running between the Recluse and the Queen Bee, still holding Allison's hand and keeping my eyes on my sister.

However, as Bender changed the route to run through a doorway, Roxy kept trying to run ahead and nearly tripped. Their arms broke away for the shortest amount of time before Sporto swooped in and grabbed her. He quickly draped her arm across his shoulders like she was one of his injured wrestling buddies and led her through the wide-open door with the rest of us right on their tails.

"Шаг! Шаг! Шаг!" I called to Roxy as the seven of us dashed down a staircase. ' _Step! Step! Step!_ '

As soon as the Delinquent made it to the bottom, he grabbed Roxy's hand and pulled her away from the Jock.

I swear, if we weren't in such a serious situation at the moment, I would've been strangling the hell out of him and watching the color drain from his face.

"Wait! Wait, hold it!" Bender suddenly called, jerking to a stop with Roxanne. Everyone froze, taking the opportunity to recharge their lungs in the middle of the hall. "We ... we have to go through the cafeteria." The Criminal pointed in the opposite direction.

"No, the Activities Hall!" Andrew practically demanded.

I groaned exasperatedly and rolled my eyes, "Actually, you're both wrong. We need to go through the English Wing and take a right at Mrs. Green's room."

"Hey, you two don't know what you're talking about." Bender sneered.

"No, _you_ don't know what you're talking about!" Jockstrap snapped, fiercely scowling at the Hooligan before he flicked his attention over to me. "And neither do you!"

Allison squeaked loudly, telling us without words to hurry the hell up and make a decision before Vernon showed up. At the same time, Roxy - almost reluctantly - untangled her fingers from around Bender's and clung to my arm.

"Now, we're through listening to you two!" Andrew bellowed. He glanced at Brian and Claire, as if he was selecting them, and then glared back at me and Bender. "We're going this way. You go where you want, mother hens." I sharply narrowed my eyes as I watched him take off in the direction of the Activities Hall with the Geek and the Redhead following almost immediately. The Jock then glanced over his shoulder and called out to the rest of us, "Come on!"

Allison spun around, flicking her cute eyes back and forth from me to the Criminal. She started stomping backwards, growling with every step she took.

"Comrade?" Roxy spoke up, clearly wanting my opinion on what we should do.

I already knew that Wrestle Mania's plan to get back to the library was going to be a disaster, but splitting up would only make things worse. "To hell with it." I growled, right before I - along with Roxy and Allison - started to sprint to catch up with Claire, Andrew, and Brian.

Bender followed us almost instantly, but not before muttering a quick and irritated, "Shit."

* * *

After we glided around the corner and managed to catch up with the others, Bender pushed himself through Brian and Andrew and practically shoved Claire into the wall in order to be leading the group again. The seven of us raced down another hallway and through a set of bright orange doors, followed by me chanting "Шаг! Шаг! Шаг!" at Roxy again as we sped down two more flights of stairs. ' _Step! Step! Step!_ ' When the Burnout made it to the bottom, he took a quick glance back at my sister to make sure that she was fine before he continued running.

Although, we didn't get far after that. Just as I suspected, shortly after the seven of us started charging down yet another hall, it was revealed that our path was cut off by a stupid iron-gate. With a furious scowl etched across his face, Bender crashed into the gate and pulled on it slightly as Claire, Andrew, and Brian jerked themselves to a stop. As for me, Roxy, and Allison, we stopped running a little further back and worked on catching our breath as we walked the rest of the way. At that moment, I couldn't tell if the Criminal had tugged on the gate to check if it was locked or to prove to the Athlete that his plan had been pointless this whole time.

Andrew gaped at the gate in shock, "Shit!"

"Great idea, jag-off." Bender sneered, holding onto the bars of the gate as he looked down at the floor and regained his breath.

"Fuck you!" Sporto bellowed.

"Fuck you!" the Princess exclaimed as she whirled around and flicked him off quickly. "Why didn't you listen to John or Comrade?"

"I hope you're satisfied with your _brilliant_ plan on going through the Activities Hall, asshole." I growled, scowling at the Jock from where my sister and I were sandwiched between the Nerd and the Basket Case.

"We're dead." Brian informed, as if the rest of us weren't aware of the situation.

Bender released a deep breath and flung his head back, flicking some of his hair out of his face before he spoke, "No ... just me."

I narrowed my eyes at him in confusion, just as Roxy snapped her head in the direction of his voice and looked at him with huge eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Brian asked.

"Get back to the library." The Hoodlum pulled the Marijuana out of his pocket and grabbed the Dork by his shirt, yanking it up just enough to expose the waistline of his pants. Then, Bender actually _shoved_ the drugs down into Brian's underwear, making me crinkle my nose and mumble "Gross" under my breath. "Keep your unit out of it!" Bender warned, right before he spun around on his heels to take off running in the direction that we all just came from. Nonetheless, before he could manage to take his first step, Roxy shot her arm out and surprisingly managed to grab him by his wrist. Her other arm remained connected around mine.

At first, the darker-haired teen looked like he was about to rip his hand away; but after he realized that it was the Handicapped who was holding his wrist, he didn't even try pulling away. I flicked my eyes between the two of them, having a difficult time believing that my sister had willingly stopped him.

"John, what in the hell are you doing?" Roxy asked.

"I'm saving your asses." Bender answered like this wasn't anything new to him. The corner of his mouth twitched a little in amusement as he stared directly into her silver eyes. "What's the matter, Roxanne? Are you scared for me?"

A pale shade of pink that was somewhat noticeable burned across Roxy's cheeks, but that didn't stop her from scoffing, "Don't flatter yourself, Rebellion 101." She tore her hand away from the Criminal's and glared at him slightly, as if she suddenly realized what she was doing.

"Then stop giving me a reason to, Russian Queen." Bender retaliated smartly, which only made my face harden into a death mock stare. Roxy didn't bother to say anything back that time. Her cheeks grew a little pinker, but other than that, nothing. So, Bender focused on the rest of us, no longer amused, "I'll be back soon."

"Oh, please," I said with my voice heavily drenched in sarcasm, "take as much time as you wish."

Bender pierced me with a glare, but didn't retaliate. Instead, he raced down the corridor as fast as his legs could carry him, screaming at the top of his lungs, "I WANNA BE AN AIRBORNE RANGER..."

"Я _на самом деле_ ненавижу эту укола..." I muttered to myself as I watched the Thug charge through the plate glass doors at the other end of the hall. ' _I_ really _hate that prick._ ' After he disappeared around a corner, I switched back to English and locked my attention back on the other detainees. "Well, what in the hell are we just standing here for?" I asked. "Let's get back to the library! John's distraction isn't going to last forever."

"W-which way do we go from here?" Brian inquired.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Roxy and I have only been in Chicago for a few months and I already knew this school like the back of my hand. These idiots, on the other hand, have been here since their Freshman year and they didn't have the slightest clue as to which hallway led where.

"Just follow me." I turned my head and sarcastically raised my eyebrows at Andrew. "That is, unless Sporto has another _fantastic_ shortcut that he would like to share with us."

The Athlete tightened his jaw and scowled harshly at me, his face still beating red, "Just shut up and lead the way!"

Unfazed by his demanding tone, I gestured for the remaining detainees to follow me. Then, without another word, the six of us started legging it down the Math Wing with me and Roxy leading the way.

* * *

We took a left at Mr. Rizczech's class and cut through the lobby, passing the school's trophy case and at least ten more posters that advertised reminders about the prom before we made it back to the library. If I had to guess, my leadership got us back within three minutes; but our running didn't stop just yet. As soon as we tore through the doors, the six of us sprinted back to our seats with Brian almost tripping over his own feet in the process.

I made sure to help Roxy get settled before I removed my guitar from where it was still positioned across my back and stashed it underneath our table. Then, with just a split second left to spare, I plopped down in my chair and flung my feet up on top of the table like I hadn't moved a muscle since lunch. At last, Bender came strolling through the doors with his hands cuffed behind his head and a pissed Mr. Vernon following him. The Handicapped stiffened in her chair, causing the Criminal to shoot her a quick, reassuring smirk. Nonetheless, it immediately disappeared from his face when the Principal shoved him in the back, making him stumble forward and almost hit into the railing.

"Get your stuff, let's go." Dick sneered, unable to see how Bender had rolled his eyes as he took his time to approach his table. While waiting, the Principal pointed at the Crook and began speaking to me and the rest of the detainees. "Mr. Wise Guy here's taken it upon himself to go to the gymnasium. I'm sorry to inform you, you're going to be without his services for the rest of the day."

From the corner of my eye, I could've sworn that I saw Roxy's shoulders sag a little at Vernon's final sentence. What in the world was going on with her?

Bender pulled his trench coat out of his seat and lazily tossed it onto his table before he sat down, acting like he wasn't going anywhere, "B-O-O-H-O-O."

Vernon scowled impatiently at the Rebel, "Everything's a big joke, huh, Bender? The false alarm you pulled Friday - false alarms are _really_ funny, aren't they?"

Claire's and Roxy's eyes widened a little, making it obvious that they were shocked to find out that Bender was the one who was behind that fake fire drill.

Bender, on the other hand, watched in a mixture of boredom and slight amusement as the Principal continued.

"What if your home-" Vernon cut himself off and revised, "what if your family-"

Another pause interrupted the older man, and the look on his face gave it away that he was desperately trying to think of something that the Criminal would actually give a shit about.

"What if your _dope_ was on fire?" Dick eventually asked.

"Impossible, sir." Bender replied almost instantly, still looking bored. Although, his voice was serious. "It's in Johnson's underwear."

In less than a second, the Brain's eyes became huge and he nervously gaped in the Principal's direction. At the same time, the Jock released a couple of chuckles, which immediately caused Mr. _Vermin_ to snap his attention over to him.

"You think he's funny?" he asked, glaring sharply at Sporto. "You think this is cute? You think he's bitchin', is that it?"

Andrew looked down to avoid making eye contact and shrugged, but Vernon refused to let him off the hook yet.

"Let me tell you something ... look at him." He gestured to Bender, who had just picked up his aviators and slipped them into the pocket of his flannel. "He's a bum. You want to see something funny? You go visit _John Bender_ in five years! You'll see how goddamn funny he is!"

Bender's eyes expanded a little and he swallowed thickly, just as Roxy pressed her lips together and looked down at her lap - almost like she was preventing herself from speaking up. Was she...

I almost scoffed, rolling my eyes at my own thought as I shook my head slightly. There was _no way in hell_ that my sister was falling for John Bender. That was just _impossible._ If I had to guess, she was just uncomfortable by Vernon's icy presence.

Dick started to approach the Crook's table, causing the other detention goers to shift around in their chairs so they could keep watching. "What's the matter, John?" Vernon asked as he bent down beside Bender's seat, clearly mocking him, "You gonna cry?"

Bender rolled his eyes and looked away without a word, unaware of the vague sympathy that was shining in Allison's eyes.

"Let's go." The Principal grabbed the Delinquent by his forearm, only to have it roughly ripped away from him.

"Hey, keep your fuckin' hands off me!" Bender snapped, causing me and my sister to flinch a little. He abruptly shot up from his chair with his trench coat, staring viciously into Vernon's eyes. "I expect better manners from you, Dick!"

He slid through the gap that was formed between the edge of his table and the Principal, leaving his scarf behind on mine and Roxy's table. Then, as he approached the front of the room, he stopped beside the Athlete's seat and pulled his aviators back out.

"For better hallway vision." Bender noted as he placed them beside Andrew and gave his shoulder a smack.

Brian eyed his crotch a couple of times, but forced himself to keep watching as the Rebel caused more havoc by shoving the phone, some paper trays, and the printer off from the librarian's desk. The Handicapped couldn't help but wince from the loud noises, but I was too busy gaping in disbelief with the Basket Case to jump. Sure, I loved seeing the Principal get his underwear in a knot - but Bender was already in a dangerous amount of trouble and he didn't seem to give a damn by this point. Even _I_ knew when to cut back on getting physical.

Finally, Bender slammed the door in Mr. Vernon's face; but Dick quickly pushed it back open and followed him out of the library.

Brian hung his head, but I couldn't tell if it was from discouragement since he was still in possession of the Marijuana or from relief since he wasn't caught. At the same time, Roxy sunk back against her chair and looked up at the ceiling as she released a deep breath. Andrew slowly picked up the Criminal's aviators and studied them, while Claire and Allison continued to stare at the door in utter shock.

"Well..." I smacked my lips a little and picked up the top half of my broken pencil, thinking about everything that just happened, "...shit."

* * *

 **A/N: That's another completed chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! :D :D**

 **Don't be shy to review. :) Please, feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. I appreciate all of your feedback, it makes my day, and it's still my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter. :) Please review!**

 **There are actually a few extra fun facts about this chapter:**

 **1) The whole scene in which the characters are sneaking past the door of the Faculty Lounge with Vernon yelling at the vending machine inside was cut from the film to save time. It's an actual deleted scene.**

 **2) I made Allison's locker combination - 23, 16, 25 - to be a reference as to how old the cast was while filming the movie. Ally Sheedy (Allison) was 23, Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald (Brian and Claire) were 16, and Judd Nelson (Bender) was 25.**

 **3) In Allison's locker, the sticky note that reads "I'm eating my head" is a reference to the beginning of the movie, in which you can see the same quote scratched onto what looked like a staircase railing.**

 **4) Comrade mentions a classroom that belongs to a teacher named 'Mr. Rizczech' while running back to the library. I added this as a reference to John Hughes other film, "Sixteen Candles".**

 **Again, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. :)**

 **Also, I still have my poll on "Who Are Your Two Top Favorite Characters in The Breakfast Club?" open. In case any of you want to look into that, it's still on my page.**

 **Well, all of my fantastic viewers, I believe we've reached the end of this chapter.**

 **Until the next update, happy reading and writing to you all, everyone! :) :) God bless! :D :D**

 **Crystalteen, out!**

 **THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!**


	11. What Is That Noise?

**A/N: What's up, all of my fantastic viewers? :)**

 **It's time for another chapter! I hope you are all as excited as I am! :D**

 **Nonetheless, before we begin, I would like to thank AvidMovieFan16, KittyoftheNight, and Applejax XD for reviewing the previous chapter, as well as swishlya for PM'ing their review to me. It means so much to me. :) I would also like to take the time to thank everyone who enjoys reading this story, as well as those who have added it to their favorites and follows. You are all amazing! :D**

 **This just in, this story now has over 3,160 views! :D :D Oh. My. God. Guys, that is _awesome!_ Thank you all so much! Let's keep it up! :) **

**Remember, reviews make my day! My goal still stands at receiving at least four reviews per chapter, so feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. Don't be shy to. I appreciate all of your feedback and I look forward to it. :) :)**

 **Fun Fact: The 'Marijuana' that the characters smoked during the movie was actually oregano.**

 **Also : I just want to let you all know that I return to school on August 17th, meaning that updates will take a bit longer to get out. Nonetheless, I don't want any of you to think that I'm abandoning this story because I'm _not._ Chapters will just take a little longer to complete due to homework, studying, and projects. I'm _not_ quitting this story, so don't worry about that. I'll still be writing whenever I get the chance. I just wanted to inform you all on that. **

**Well, I believe I shared everything that I wanted to. The time has come for you all to sit back, relax, and enjoy the chapter! :)**

 **Please review! Happy reading, everyone! :D**

* * *

Comrade's POV

I tapped the upper half of my broken pencil against the table and examined my piece of paper. My eyes repeatedly scanned across the same sentences that I had written earlier when I was reclining on the statue; but despite how much I wanted to, I couldn't bring myself to continue writing. Instead, I was caught up in thinking about Bender - _John Bender_ of all people. My mind was swarming with hundreds of threats and insults that I could only assume Vernon was saying to him right now. Even after he put me, my sister, and the other detainees at the risk of getting caught while sneaking out of the library just for a damn stash of weed, I couldn't help but feel _curious_ as to what was happening to him at this very moment.

Even after fives minutes slipped by since the Criminal's departure, the silence in the library remained thick. Claire had positioned herself like a prostitute on top of her table and was now lightly brushing her leg against Jockstrap's arm, looking like she was trying to convince him to climb up and get hot and heavy with her right there in front of the rest of us. It made me roll my eyes and mumble "Шлюха" under my breath, but Andrew wasn't even acknowledging the Redhead. ' _Slut._ ' Instead, he was caught up in fiddling around with Bender's aviators, sliding them up and down the bridge of his nose like that somehow made him look cool. Nevertheless, Claire continued to stroke her leg against his arm.

As for Brian, he had moved himself over to Bender's table and was enjoying the remains of his lunch. Roxy, on the other hand, had draped the Crook's scarf around her shoulders again and was currently occupying herself by twirling some of the fibers around her fingers. And lastly, Allison was leaning back in her chair with her feet prompt up on her table and the tip of her index finger in her mouth, giving it away that she was probably nibbling on her nail.

Suddenly, after about another ten seconds of pure silence, I could've sworn that I heard the soft sound of something creaking from above. I could tell that Roxy must've heard it too, because she stopped toying around with Bender's scarf and slowly cranked her head up towards the ceiling. The noise repeated itself, causing me to break my attention away from my piece of paper and gaze up as well. I arched an eyebrow, wondering what in the hell that could've been.

"Uh..." the Handicapped spoke up with confusion laced thickly around her accent, "...what was that?"

Sporto swiveled around in his seat and adjusted the Delinquent's shades so he was peeking over them. "What was what, Roxanne?" he asked.

"That creaking sound." Roxy replied. She pointed up at the ceiling to help the rest of the detainees understand where the noise was coming from. "Don't you guys hear it?"

The Geek stopped chewing on a baby carrot to listen. Allison and Andrew glanced up simultaneously; but while the Basket Case looked completely calm and natural, the Jock looked genuinely curious. Though, the Diva kept her eyes on my sister and stared at her rudely, making it obvious that she thought that Roxy was lying to them in order to get attention.

"I don't hear anything." Andrew said after a moment.

Brian hesitantly picked up another carrot stick, "Neither do I."

I scoffed, keeping my eyes locked on the ceiling. "How in the hell don't any of you hear that?" I demanded, sounding more judgmental than confused.

Just then, another squeak came from the panels, causing Sporto to furrow his brow and peek up a little again.

" _What the hell..._ " Nonetheless, even before I could finish my own thought, I was cut off at the sound of a familiar voice screaming out, "OHHH, SHIIIIIT!" My eyes shot bigger than ever before, feeling like they were about to burst out of my skull when I witnessed one of the panels break and fall from above. An echoing _CRASH_ erupted through the room, causing Roxy to release a startled yelp while everyone else - excluding Allison - snapped their heads in the direction of the noise. Jockstrap immediately tore the glasses away from his face, while the Recluse continued to casually stare at the ceiling with her fingertip remaining in her mouth. There was _no way_ that the Principal didn't hear _that._

After a couple of more _THUDS_ filled the air from items on the upper floor being knocked over, the Rebel appeared. He came trotting down the stairs, dusting off some bits of plaster from his shoulders and the back of his neck. When he made it to the bottom, he froze in his tracks and nonchalantly examined the shock that was printed across the other detention goers' faces.

"Forgot my pencil." Bender said with a slight, sarcastic shrug.

Roxy's eyes widened and her jaw practically dropped all the way down to her lap at the sound of his voice. Until now, she hadn't realized that it was _him_ who caused the loud disturbance.

As Bender walked down the aisle, I rolled my eyes and grumbled, "You've _got_ to be screwing with me right now." At the same time, Claire stared at the darker-haired teen with an almost captivated expression decorating her face, as if she was preparing herself for the moment when Bender would turn and _finally_ notice her. A tiny grin fiddled around with one of the corners of her mouth, but it instantly transformed into a frown when she watched the Criminal past by without sparing her the smallest glance. Instead, he kept his eyes locked on Roxy and almost snickered when he noticed just how shocked she was. He flashed a quick, flirtatious smirk in her direction, right before he reached across the stunned Nerd to grab the pencil that he claimed to have left behind.

"Goddammit!" Dick's voice bellowed from the hallway, causing the seven of us to freeze up for a couple of seconds.

"Oh, _shit._ " I muttered, right before a series of actions broke out.

Claire leaped off from her table and plopped back down in her chair, smoothing out a few of the wrinkles on her skirt in the process. Andrew folded his hands on the table top to make him look like the perfect picture of innocence and Brian stashed his thermos and his leftover baby carrots underneath his table. Roxy and Allison grew tense and stared wide-eyed towards the library's main entrance, just as I quickly folded my piece of paper back up and slid it back into my pocket. Lastly, Bender dropped himself down to his knees and crawled underneath mine and Roxy's table like he was being chased by the devil.

I opened my mouth to object - to tell him to go hide underneath his own damn table. Unfortunately, before I could get a word out, I had no choice but to shut myself up at the sight of Vernon entering the library with his usual glare plastered on his face. The door slammed shut behind him as he approached the front of the room, no longer wearing his blazer and slightly adjusting his belt as he stormed past the librarian's desk.

"What in God's name is going on in here?" he demanded.

Everyone, except for the Basket Case, shrugged in response. The Handicapped slowly straightened herself, clearly not trying to draw any attention to herself as she carefully slid her tailbone further back into her seat. At the same time, I felt the neck of my guitar lightly brush against my shin, making it obvious that Bender was trying to shift it around so he could be more comfortable. My eyes widened a bit, but other than that, I remained silent.

"What was that ruckus?" Vernon then asked as he began to study the ceiling with utter confusion glowing in his eyes. How in the hell did that bastard not manage to notice the missing panel, I had no idea.

"Uh, what ruckus?" Andrew asked, acting just as clueless as he looked.

The Principal flicked his eyebrows up in dead seriousness, "I was just in my office and I heard a ruckus!"

Brian raised his arm and shrugged slightly, "Could you describe the ruckus, sir?"

"Watch your tongue, young man." Vernon sneered as he pointed a finger at the Dweeb. "Watch it."

Just then, a mild _bang_ came from underneath mine and Roxy's table, causing my eyes to grow a little more. A groan escaped from Bender's mouth, but Andrew quickly covered it up by drumming his hands against his and Claire's table top. It almost sounded like he was trying to say, 'Are you all right?' Immediately after, the Criminal banged the bottom of my table twice, as if he was responding with, 'I'm fine.' Roxy quickly patted her lap to cover it up, followed by me clapping my hands together and Allison flinging her feet back down to the floor in an attempt to convince Dick that the noises were coming from us moving around.

"What is this?" Vernon asked, glaring at the seven of us like we were in the middle of putting on a circus act. Sporto pointed up towards the ceiling, making a zipping noise before he straightened his lips and folded his hands again. "What is that? What - what is that?" Vernon was wildly gesturing his hands around by this point. "What is that noise?"

"What noise?" Sporto inquired, still playing dumb.

"Really, sir," the Princess chimed in, "there wasn't any noise."

Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I could have sworn that I saw a violent shade of red burn across Roxy's cheeks. She stiffened against the back of her seat and drew in a sharp breath, causing me to furrow my brow in concern. I leaned over just a little bit, making sure that I wasn't moving too fast to produce anymore noise or to get noticed by Mr. _Vermin._ Then, as I cautiously took a peek underneath the table to check to see as to what was causing the Handicapped's discomfort, my eyes grew to the point where I was shocked that they didn't pop out of my head.

Bender - that son of a bitch - was planting tender kisses along my sister's kneecaps and trailing them up underneath her denim skirt, all while stroking his hands from her ankles to the bottom of her knees. The further his head got, the more Roxy's chest started to quiver from her lack of deep breaths and the more my fury enhanced. My lips tore back, revealing my viciously clenched teeth. Roxy released a strained squeak, which I could only imagine was from Bender placing a kiss _very_ far up her inner thigh. Thinking fast, she snapped her legs shut and crushed the Hoodlum's face between her knees, resulting in him releasing another groan.

I might've been pissed, but I sure as hell wasn't planning on getting in even more trouble for covering for Bender. I flew my hand up to my mouth and started to cough so horribly to the point where it was obviously staged. Within seconds, the other detainees joined in, sneezing, smacking their chests, and pretending to clear their throats. Roxy used this opportunity to release Bender's head, only so she and I could start kicking him as hard as we could. He let out a loud "OW!" that was a clear mixture of pain and anger, right before he firmly grabbed the hem of my jeans in one hand and one of Roxy's calves in the other, clearly trying to get us to stop.

"That noise?" Claire asked as soon as the coughing fit dissolved. "Was that the noise you were talking about?"

"No, it wasn't." Vernon replied. He crossed his arms over his chest and started to shake his head. "That was _not_ the noise I was talking about."

At that moment, despite how risky it was, I couldn't resist kicking Bender again. The head of my converse rammed him in his rib cage harder than any of my previous kicks, causing him to stifle yet another groan. In the blink of an eye, the Principal darted his attention over to me and raised his eyebrows again.

"Mr. Alexandrov!" he exclaimed, jabbing a finger in my direction. "What in the world is going on back there?"

I hid my mouth behind my knuckles so he wouldn't be able to see my grinding teeth and replied unconvincingly, "Sorry, sir. My foot's asleep."

Dick stared at me for a few extra seconds, still wearing his bitter scowl; but he eventually looked away, believing my lie, and locked his eyes back on the preppies.

"Now, I may have not caught you in the act this time, but you can bet I will." Vernon cautioned.

The Basket Case didn't even bother to try holding her laughter back. The Principal lifted his chin and pointed at her, "You may book on that, missy!" In return, Allison flashed an innocent smirk and folded her hands on her lap, as if she was telling him that she didn't do anything.

"And you two!" Dick barked, pointing at me and then at Claire. The Queen Bee straightened herself in her chair while I just rolled my eyes. "I _will not_ be made a fool of!"

Brian took a quick glance behind him to make sure that Roxy and I were okay, but he swiveled back around just in time to catch one final glimpse of Mr. Vernon's warning stare. Although, it didn't take long for Vernon's final words to come back and bite him right on the ass. As soon as the Principal turned away and began to strut out of the library, it was revealed that he had one of those sanitary toilet paper seat covers hanging out from the back of his pants.

Andrew, Allison, and Brian immediately started to crack up, and maybe if I hadn't been so angry at the moment, I would have been laughing too. I quickly snapped my head back over to Roxy, watching as she kicked the Criminal one last time in the arm before she shoved her seat out. After that, she clenched her eyes shut and looked away in Allison's direction, drawing in one deep breath after another and not saying a word. I, on the other hand, furiously smacked Bender in the back at least five times as he crawled out from underneath the table, grabbing the attention of the other detention goers in less than a second.

"You filthy prick!" I bellowed, fighting the urge to grab him by the back of his flannel and slam his head repeatedly against the steel bars of the railing. Still, that didn't stop me from roughly shoving him in the shoulder and almost causing him to fall flat on his back when he positioned himself on his knees beside my chair.

"What in the hell do you think you were doing? Huh? You think that was meant to be some type of demented joke, you sick son of a bitch?" I demanded, feeling my words pierce my throat from how much I was raising my voice. I could also feel the urge growing hotter and much more intense inside of me as Bender flashed me a vague, but very amused smirk. "I swear, John Bender, with all of these other dumbasses as my witnesses, you better hope and pray that you don't run into me outside of this shit hole because I _will_ slice your ass up and leave you to rot with all of the other pathetic trash on the street, you hear me?" I gestured towards the Queen Bee, the Jock, and the Wimp when I addressed them as 'these other dumbasses', but the Rebel didn't look the slightest bit effected. "My God," I growled, "that's my sister, you проклятый ублюдок! In case you haven't noticed, she's a _human being!_ How in the hell could you just _do that_ to someone?" ' _Damn bastard!_ '

Bender shrugged nonchalantly, "It was an accident."

I sharply narrowed my eyes, but saw no point in continuing to socialize with him. I already warned him about what was going to happen between the two of us the next time we spotted each other outside of Shitty Shermer; so, instead of wasting anymore of my time, I glanced away and locked my attention back on my sister.

She was still staring off in the opposite direction with her face beating redder than a pool of lava, exposing just how upset and uncomfortable she was. My eyes instantly glowed with concern and I reached out, gently placing my hand on her shoulder. I could feel how tense she was, but I still did my best to comfort her without speaking. As of now, I could tell that the only way that she was going to say anything was if the other detainees left us alone.

"You're an asshole." Claire sneered, just now realizing the reason behind why I was defending Roxy.

Bender kept his eyes on the Handicapped, but directed his words to the Princess, "Sue me..." After that, he used the table to help him stand up and sauntered over to where Brian was sitting in front of us with complete boredom etched across his face. "So, Ahab," Bender said, looking down at the scrawnier teen, "can I borrow my doobage?"

For a moment, the Nerd hesitated, glancing back up at the darker-haired teen in obvious confusion; but after a couple of seconds, the realization dawned on him that Bender was referring to his weed. Brian lowered his head down to his crotch and unzipped his khakis. While waiting, the Burnout flicked his eyes back and forth from me to Roxy, watching as I continued to rub her shoulder while piercing him with a fierce glare. Eventually, after maintaining eye contact with me for a few moments, Bender glanced back at Brian, who was now offering him the Marijuana.

Using the tips of his thumb and index finger, Bender grabbed the package by its edge and started to walk towards the back of the library.

"Yo, waistoid!" Andrew called out with slight shock decorating his face. "You're not gonna blaze up in here!"

Bender ignored him, causing Claire to turn to see for herself if he was being serious about going off to get intoxicated. The Princess then spun back around, but after a couple of seconds, she gazed over at Sporto like a lost puppy. He slowly shook his head at her, and she dropped her attention down to her lap. Then, after a few extra seconds, she stood up from her seat and ran a hand through her Ronald McDonald hair as she scurried after Bender. Andrew almost looked disappointed as he and Brian watched her go, but nobody spoke up.

With a tiny huff, the Geek glanced back down at his table - only to peek up at the Jock again and lip sync what looked like, 'Just a little bit?' Andrew immediately shook his head, this time much more eagerly, and mouthed back what I could only assume was, 'I'm not going.' Brian tapped his thumbs together, darting his eyes along the floor and raising his eyebrows in thought before he rose to his feet. It quickly occurred to him that he forgot to zip his pants back up, so he shot me, Andrew, and Roxy a fast glance of humiliation before he dashed off, fixing his zipper in the process.

Rolling his eyes, Jockstrap turned back around in his chair. I slowly reeled my hand away from the Handicapped's shoulder and crossed my arms over my chest as the Basket Case and I watched him, just waiting to see what he would do. Within seconds, he dropped his arms down to his sides and shook his head in annoyance, right before he mumbled "Shit" and shoved his chair out. After that, he picked up the Criminal's aviators and started walking down the aisle; but instead of immediately following the three other detention goers, he stopped beside mine and Roxy's table and looked at me.

"You coming?" he asked.

I raised my eyebrows and scoffed, unable to figure out if he was being serious or not, "Hell no. Unlike you and those other pricks, I don't fall into peer pressure _that_ easily, Jockstrap."

The Athlete glared at me slightly, as if 'peer pressure' was something that didn't actually exist. It was also like he was commanding me to keep my mouth shut about this so his precious little rep wouldn't be tarnished. We just _couldn't_ have the rest of the school finding out about the popular and oh-so-amazing Andrew Clarke getting pressured into taking drugs, now could we? I almost rolled my eyes at my own sarcasm, but peer pressure really _was_ a bitch.

Sporto then jumped his attention over to the Handicapped, who was now looking down at her lap and pretending to distract herself by fiddling around with her nails. "What about you, Roxanne?" he asked with a barely audible note of sympathy wrapped around his voice.

Roxy remained silent, refusing to look in his direction as she straightened her lips and slowly shook her head. Andrew continued to stare at her for a few more seconds, making it look like he was saying, 'Suit yourself.' After that, without taking the smallest glance over at the surprised Recluse, Jockstrap walked off to go find Brian, Bender, and Claire.

Allison and I watched him leave, but while the Basket Case kept her eyes on him until he vanished out of sight, I immediately looked away when I was positive that he was out of earshot and locked my attention back on my sister. In less than a second, all of my concern came rushing back, sweeping across my face and drenching my accent.

"Hey, Rox..." I carefully reached out and touched her shoulder again, but this time, she shrugged my hand away. That caught me a little off guard, but I continued to speak as soothingly as possible, "It's okay, those assholes left. You don't have to be nervous."

Roxy peeked over in my direction from the corner of her eye, "I'm fine, Comrade." Although, her tone gave it away that she had no desire to talk about what just happened with Bender. I sure as hell didn't want to discuss it either, but I also didn't want my sister to keep her emotions bottled up.

"Roxanne, you know that you can talk to me about anything." I said, but all I got in response that time was her drawing in a deep breath. I attempted to place my hand on her shoulder again, just barely grazing her sleeve with my fingertips, "If you want, I can-"

Roxy immediately shifted away from my touch and sharply enhanced the volume of her voice, "I said _I'm fine!_ " She motioned with her hands for me to stop trying to touch her, causing my eyes to widen in shock. A few seconds past before Roxy then dropped her arms down to her lap and sighed, "I'm sorry, Comrade. I didn't mean to snap at you like that, but ... I..." She sighed again and quickly snatched up her dark glasses, unfolding them as fast as she could, "I just need to be alone right now, okay? I really _don't_ want to talk about it." At last, she slipped her glasses back on; but I still managed to catch a glimpse of the tears that were beginning to fill up in the corners of her eyes.

"All right, all right..." Despite how much her words sent a twinge of pain through my body, I wasn't going to try changing her mind. I watched, refusing to frown as she fiddled around with her Walkman - but this time, instead of putting just one headphone in, she put both of them in. After that, with the song _Another One Bites the Dust_ able to be heard, she lowered her head down onto our table and hid her face from the rest of the world.

A small sigh escaped from my mouth as I massaged the bridge of my nose. In the distance, I could hear what sounded like the Dweeb beginning to burst into a fit of laughter, making it obvious that his immune system had already welcomed the Marijuana. Shortly after that, a hacking sound coming from none other than the Princess filled the air. It sounded like she was on the verge of coughing up a lung, clearing all of the smoke that she just inhaled through her mouth. Clearly, her spoiled ass had never smoked a joint before. As for me, I have participated in some 'activities' in the past that I definitely wasn't proud of, but none of them involved drugs.

"She'll be okay, Comrade." Allison spoke up, snapping me out of my thoughts. I glanced over at her, noticing the sympathy that was glistening in her eyes. "Just give her some space. She'll be fine, she's a tough girl."

"You have _no_ idea..." I muttered under my breath, right before I pushed my seat out from the table and stood up. After that, without bothering to shove it back in, I slid my hands into the pockets of my worn out jeans and approached the Basket Case's table. As soon as I did, the first thing that my eyes laid on when I froze in my tracks was this phenomenal picture of an old-fashioned bridge that was constructed over a stream in the wintertime. It was illustrated entirely out of ink, accompanied by clusters of remarkably drawn rocks and trees in the background.

I leaned against the edge of the table that was closest to Klepto's chair and flashed half of an amused smirk. "Well, well, what do we have here?" I asked, flicking my eyes back and forth from Allison to her latest drawing. "Could it be another spectacular piece of art from the young up-and-coming artist Allison Christina Reynolds? I think it is." A few chuckles leaked into my accent when I addressed the Basket Case by her full name.

Allison raised her eyebrows, making them disappear underneath her shaggy bangs. It was obvious that she was battling the urge to smile as she retaliated, "It's going to be your death warrant if you even think about calling me by my full name again."

"I'm serious, Klepto." I continued to grin as I studied the amount of detail that she included in a small brick wall that was at the head of the bridge. "This is incredible. You really should consider talking to Mr. Wallace about signing up for the art show next month."

At the mention of the art show, the small smile that had managed to slip across the Recluse's face disappeared like it was never there. She stared at me, clearly at a loss for words. It took her a moment before she was able to find her voice again, "I don't think so, Reality Check."

"Why not?" I asked, genuinely curious. "Allison, I've seen your sketchbooks and all of the paintings in your room. Don't you think that you should take the opportunity to show them off?"

"What's the point?" With a huff, the Basket Case dropped her attention down to the floor and leaned forward, shifting herself into a new position. After curling one of her legs underneath the rest of her body, she made eye contact with me again and continued bluntly, "It's not like anybody would take the time to come see any of it. My mom will be too busy taking care of her _precious_ garden and my old man will most likely be having a threesome with his accountant and secretary."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes in obvious annoyance at the thought of Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds. "Who gives a damn about your parents, Reynolds?" I asked with a mixture of scorn and seriousness dripping from my voice. "If you _do_ decide to enter the art show, _I'll_ be there to see all of your brilliant work. Roxy and our grandparents wouldn't miss it for the world either. If your parents don't bother to show up, then that's their problem. Screw them." I pulled my hands out of my pockets and crossed my arms. "Seriously, Al, you _can't_ let them get to you. You have a remarkable talent and the full right to express it. I don't want you to risk wasting your life away like Claire." At my own mention of the Princess, I scoffed and shook my head in disapproval. "Hell, you and I can already tell that she's going to grow up depending on makeup, her father's credit cards, her mom's shopping sprees, and cosmetic surgery."

A small snort escaped from Allison's mouth, but when she didn't say anything, I continued.

"While she's caught up in trying to impress some guy who doesn't even know that she exists by getting a face-lift and two boob jobs, you'll be getting interviewed and hundreds of people will be swarming to see your art. You never know, this art show could be the beginning of all of that and you already have my full support."

Allison flashed a sly grin and waited a few seconds before shrugging, "Okay, I'll think about it."

Just then, I head the sound of a door opening from the upper floor. The Recluse and I immediately cranked our heads up, only to see Sporto stepping out of the Foreign Languages' Lab with music playing and a flood of smoke flowing out behind him. He was puffing a joint, pausing between each inhale to stare at it like he was wondering whether or not he was smoking it correctly. In less than a second, Allison's smile started to tremble and I narrowed my eyes, staring at the Jock like he was the biggest idiot in the whole world. At this moment, he definitely was.

After taking one more hit, a huge and ridiculously satisfied smile ripped widely across Andrew's face. He tossed his joint down to the floor and unzipped his hoodie, right before he started head-butting and pumping his fist into the air. After that, he took off running and started cheering to himself as he preformed a cartwheel, loosing his hoodie in the process. He pulled it off and chucked it over the railing, throwing himself to the floor and somersaulting afterwards. Then, after skipping and throwing a punch at the American flag, he hopped up onto the bench that was in front of the humongous clock and stripped himself from his white jumper. Now, he was left in a blue muscle shirt.

In the distance, the sound of somebody whistling filled the air; but I kept my eyes on Wrestle Mania, thinking to myself that it was too late to look away now. He pretended to punch himself across the face before hitting himself in the chest like a gorilla and jumping down from the bench. Immediately after, he began to leap over some of the shorter bookcases, continuing to cheer before preforming some dance moves and a few more cartwheels. At last, he started to strut, throwing punches at thin air and kicking the wall before he returned to the Foreign Languages' Lab. After throwing a couple of more fist-pumps, he entered the smoky room and closed the door behind him, only to shatter the glass when he released a loud and enthusiastic scream.

I rolled my eyes, not the slightest bit impressed, and turned my attention back over to Allison; but it didn't take long before a cunning smirk curled up on the corners of my mouth as a sudden thought came to my mind.

"You know something, Al?" I waited for her to look at me before I went on. "I can't help but wonder what'll happen to Sporto if his coach finds out about this."

Within seconds, a small, but very mischievous grin beamed across Allison's face. "You wouldn't," she said with a couple of snickers stitched into her words.

"Want a bet, Basket Case?" I asked. My smile broadened a little as I raised my shoulders nonchalantly. "If he keeps pushing my buttons and irritating the hell out of me, I just might have to inform his coach about his little encounter with pot."

Clearly amused, Allison lightly shook her head and said in a tone that was almost seductive, "You're so bad."

"And what's so bad about that?" I asked, soaking my accent in the same amount of flirtatiousness. The two of us did this a lot when we hung out together - we joked around and pretended to be romantic with each other. But we were just friends. I playfully narrowed my eyes and knelt down a little, bringing my face closer to Allison's. "I might be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it." I remarked, winking after my last word.

The Basket Case chuckled again, but then, it occurred to me just how close the two of us really were. The tips of our noses were practically touching, and I could smell the mixed scents of pencil shavings and wet paint coming from her; but she somehow made it work. I could've sworn that I felt a wave of heat tingle across my cheeks as I stared directly into her deep brown eyes. I could feel this sudden urge starting to grow wildly inside of me - tempting me to run my fingers through her messy hair or to grab her pale hand and trace my thumb over her knuckles. What in the hell was going on here? Before I could try coming up with an answer, I did something that shocked the shit out of me.

I placed my hand against Allison's cheek and rested my fingers against her jawline, right before I sped in and closed the very slim gap that was separating us by planting my lips against hers. She immediately drew in a sharp breath through her nostrils and stiffened in her chair, but something inside of me kept the kiss going. I could feel her cheeks flaring up as I detected the taste of Coke, Cap'n Crunch, and Pixy-Stix sugar on her lips. Then, just as I was about to rake my hand through my hair to push it out of the way, I froze up and my eyes shot huge - as if I had snapped out of a trance and just realized what I was doing.

With no hesitation, I pulled away and almost tripped as I stumbled back a couple of steps. Allison was staring at me in absolute shock, perfectly resembling a statue. Her face was completely flushed and her eyes were just as large as mine, looking like they were seconds away from falling out of her skull.

"Oh my God..." I was absolutely humiliated, but looked more caught off guard than anything. "Holy shit ... what in the hell did I just do?"

The Recluse opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no words came out. She was rendered speechless, obviously trying to get a grasp on what just happened.

"Allison, I ... I'm so sorry. I ... I don't know why in the hell I just did that. It was stupid of me." At my final sentence, I quickly spun around on my heels and retreated to my table, where Roxy was still lying her head down and now listening to the song _It's Still Rock & Roll to Me. _Then, I knelt down just long enough to grab my guitar from where it was still hidden out of sight underneath the table. And finally, after I slid the leather strap up my arm and snatched up both halves of my broken pencil, I started to walk away.

"Comrade!" Allison called out, the tone of her voice giving it away that she wanted me to stop and come back.

I froze in my tracks and just barely glanced over my shoulder, "I need some time to myself, Allison. Keep an eye on Roxy for me."

Without giving the Basket Case a chance to say anything else, I turned away and continued walking until I made it to a few couches that were arranged in a social gathering position behind the ugly statue. As soon as I plopped down, not caring about how much force I put into my drop, my face morphed into a bitter scowl; but I wasn't pissed at Allison. No, I was pissed at myself for kissing her. What in the hell was I thinking? She was my best friend ... and now, I probably ruined our friendship just because I listened to some stupid urge.

"Ты такой идиот..." I mumbled under my breath, scorning myself. ' _You are such an idiot..._ ' My words became much more explicit after that, and after I positioned my guitar so it was reclining beside my leg, I freed my hair from my ponytail, rested my head against the back of the sofa, and closed my eyes. By this point, I was mentally cursing myself out and wishing that I could rewind time to take back everything that just happened.

I couldn't believe it. That was my first kiss and I blew it.

* * *

About five minutes went by with me just relaxing my eyes, but I had to keep popping them back open every few seconds so I wouldn't fall asleep. The last thing I needed was to suffer from another nightmare about my pathetic excuse of an old man.

I tried to distract myself by staring up at one of the fluorescent lights and watching it flicker, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop thinking about my kiss with Allison. It was a mistake - a very terrible mistake on my behalf; and I just _had_ to forget about it. Maybe if I acted like it never happened, it would eventually leave me alone and my friendship with the Recluse could be restored. It was a plan that I was definitely willing to try.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of footsteps coming in my direction from behind. So, I pushed myself up into a better sitting position and swiveled around halfway to investigate. That's when I saw Andrew and Brian walking side-by-side, approaching the couches. The Nerd had Bender's aviators resting on the bridge of his nose, but at the sight of me, he immediately removed them from his face and furrowed his brow in confusion. The Jock, on the other hand, didn't seem the slightest bit curious as to why I was now sitting by myself. The weed was definitely fading from their systems.

"Hey, Comrade," Brian said as he took a seat on the sofa that was across from mine, "what are you up to?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and didn't bother to hold back on my sarcasm, "Take a guess, String Bean. I'm either trying to relax or I'm contemplating murder. You got a fifty-fifty shot." Hell would have to freeze over before I even considered telling either of these assholes about what happened between me and the Basket Case.

Brian straightened his lips and nervously lowered his attention back down to the Burnout's glasses, just as Andrew leaned back in the chair that was placed at the head of the couches. For a moment, the three of us remained silent; but just as I was about to go back to staring at the ceiling, I noticed that Sporto was staring at me with his eyes slightly narrowed in a thinking manner.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Uh ... can I _help you?_ " My last two words had been sharpened a little, causing Brian to immediately look up and start flicking his eyes back and forth from me to Wrestle Mania.

"I was just thinking about your name." Andrew said.

"What's wrong with my name?"

The Athlete paused for a moment, clearly trying to think his response through. "Um..." He leaned forward in his seat so his arms could be resting his across his legs, "I wouldn't go as far as saying that there's something _wrong_ with it. I was just wondering ... you know, have you ever asked your parents why they named you 'Comrade'?"

I tensed up a little at the mention of my parents, but answered almost instantly, "No."

"Well, why do you _think_ they named you 'Comrade'?" Andrew inquired, causing me to roll my eyes. Why in the hell was he so curious about this? I _hated_ talking about my parents.

"Sporto," I stated as bluntly as possible, "there's _a lot_ of things that my parents did that I don't understand. If I had to take a guess about my name, they just wanted something different - something that no other kid had."

A few seconds went by before Brian chimed in, "Well, anything is better than what my parents were considering to name me."

I positioned my elbow against the back of the sofa and rested my head against my closed fist as I stared at the Dweeb blankly.

At the same time, Jockstrap reclined back in his seat and asked in actual curiosity, "What were your parents considering to name you?"

A goofy smile spread practically ear-to-ear across Brian's face as he replied, "Marion." Immediately after saying the name, the scrawnier teen started to loudly cackle to the point where he his cheeks became red and he had to roll over to hide his face into the back of the couch.

Despite how I had no real interest in learning about what the Nerd's parents were planning to name him, I couldn't resist laughing along. The chuckles bubbled up in my throat and flowed out of my mouth before I even got the chance to notice them; but I wasn't the only one. Andrew was cracking up, too.

"No, no, no man." The Athlete caught his breath, still wearing a sliver of an amused grin as he rolled his head back over towards me. "You guys got middle names?"

"Of course." I replied with a vague shrug. "Mine is Nicholas. Comrade Nicholas Alexandrov."

Sporto nodded at me slightly before he flicked his attention back over to the scrawnier teen, "What about you, Brian?"

The Geek coughed a little before answering, "Yeah, guess."

"Uhh..." Andrew drawled, but before he could come up with an actual guess, he was cut off by a familiar voice exclaiming, "Your middle name is Ralph! As in _puke._ "

Brian, Andrew, and I immediately snapped our heads in the direction of the voice, only to spot none other than Allison. She was standing beside the statue with one of her arms clutching her bag close to her chest and her other wrapped around the Handicapped's arm. Roxy was no longer wearing her dark glasses, exposing her silver eyes once again with her backpack dangling from the arm that wasn't interlocking with Allison. At the sight of the Basket Case, I slightly pursed my lips and decided that it was time to put my plan in action: just pretend that the kiss never happened.

"Your birthday is March twelfth," Allison continued as she and my sister started to approach the couches, "you're five-nine-and-a-half, you weigh one hundred and thirty pounds, and your social security number is 049-38-091..." She paused to help Roxy take a seat down on the sofa with Brian, right before she seated herself between them and finished with a triumphed smirk, "Three."

A small grin fiddled around with one of the corners of Roxy's lips as she settled her backpack down on the floor, where it rested between her and Allison's feet.

I couldn't resist cocking an eyebrow at Brian, quickly studying him from the bottom of his shoes to the top of his head. I could believe that he was five-nine-and-a-half because I was six-foot-four, but one hundred and thirty pounds? Judging by how thin he was - whether he really _was_ that skinny or his clothes were just _that_ baggy - he looked more like one hundred and five pounds to me.

"Wow," Andrew spoke up, clearly stunned, "are you psychic?"

The Recluse turned her head to look at him and the Nerd, "No."

There was a small pause before Brian leaned a bit closer to her, "Well, would you mind telling me how you know all this about me?" With every word he spoke, he wouldn't stop gesturing around with Bender's aviators.

Allison looked down, pulling her polka-dot scarf out of the way before she reached into her hidden pocket. As soon as she pulled out the item that she had been hiding, a smug grin swept across her face. It was a leather wallet - the Nerd's wallet; and at the sight of it, my lips twitched in amusement. I didn't even try holding back on a snort.

"I stole your wallet." Allison informed, sounding just as sly as she looked.

"Give it to me." Brian sneered.

A teasing glint formed in the Basket Case's eyes, "No."

"Give it!" the scrawnier teen snipped. With no hesitation, the playfulness vanished from Allison's face and she pouted a little as she - almost reluctantly - tossed the wallet back to him. Brian caught it as soon as it landed in his lap, dropping the Crook's glasses aside in the process. "This is great! You're a thief too, huh?" The scrawnier teen sounded more offended than angry, but that didn't stop me from sharply narrowing my eyes at him.

"Watch it, Johnson." I growled, baring my teeth for a few seconds.

"I'm not a thief!" Allison denied shortly after.

The Brain opened his wallet and began to search through its contents, "Multi-talented."

Allison rolled her eyes. "What's there to steal?" she asked smartly. "Two bucks and a beaver shot."

At her final two words, Roxy's jaw practically dropped down to the floor, making it obvious that she didn't expect pornography of all things to be stashed in Brian Johnson's wallet. At the same time, my eyes widened a little and Andrew spoke up with his voice drenched in interest, "A _what?_ "

"He's got a nudie picture in there." The Basket Case motioned towards the Geek's wallet with her chin. "I saw it. It's perverted."

A large, strongly satisfied smile slipped across Jockstrap's face, "All right! Let's see it."

Brian's cheeks flared up in embarrassment, just as I rolled my eyes and stood up. There was no way in hell that I was going to stick around for this corrupted version of Show & Tell. After mumbling a quick "Извращенцы" under my breath, I grabbed my guitar and spun around on my heels. ' _Perverts._ ' Then, as I walked away, I could've sworn that I could feel my face starting to grow a little warm at the thought of Allison watching me.

Nonetheless, I refused to look back and kept walking. It was time to see what the Princess and the Rebel were up to.

* * *

 **A/N: That's another completed chapter! :) :) :D :D**

 **I hope you all had fun reading it. :) Please keep in mind that it's still my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter. I love feedback and I appreciate it all very much, so feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. :)**

 **There are also two other Fun Facts about this chapter:**

 **1) I named the art teacher 'Mr. Wallace' as a reference to John Hughes other film, "Weird Science".**

 **2) When Comrade describes Claire as having "two boob jobs and a face-lift" in the future, that's an actual quote that was cut from the film. Originally, there was supposed to be a scene in which Carl shares his thoughts with Vernon on where the kids would be in thirty years, but it was cut to save time. So, I made Comrade say that Claire would have "two boob jobs and a face-lift" as a reference to the deleted scene.**

 **Also : Please keep in mind that chapters will take more time to complete, considering school returns for me on August 17th. Nonetheless, I'm _not_ quitting this story, so don't worry about that. Updates will just take a little longer due to homework, studying, and projects. I thank you all for understanding. :) **

**By the way, my poll on "Who Are Your Two Top Favorite Characters in The Breakfast Club?" is still going. In case any of you want to check that out and cast your votes, it's on my page.**

 **Again, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! :) Don't be shy to share your thoughts about everything that just happened! :)**

 **Well, all of my fantastic viewers, I believe we've reached the end of this chapter.**

 **Please review!**

 **Until next time, happy reading and writing to you all! :D :D** **God bless! :) :)**

 **Crystalteen, out!**

 **THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!**


	12. You Want To See What's In My Bag?

**A/N: Hey, everyone! :D**

 **Who is ready for the next chapter? I know I am! :)**

 **Nonetheless, before we begin, I would like to remind all of you that I am currently back in school and updates will take a bit longer due to homework, studying, and projects. This is my final year of high school, so it'll require a lot of hard word - but, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to be writing. Whenever I get the chance, I _will_ be working on this story. So, please don't think that I'm abandoning this story or any of my work because I'm _not._ Chapters will just take a little longer to complete. **

**Also, before we officially begin the chapter, I have another announcement to make: thanks to all of you, this story now has over 3, 465 views! I honestly can't believe it. That it absolutely _amazing._ :') Thank you all _so much_ for taking the time to read "The Reality Check & the Handicapped" up to this point. You are all awesome! :D :D Let's keep it up! The story ain't over yet! :) :)**

 **I would also like to thank AvidMovieFan16 and Applejax XD for reviewing the previous chapter, as well as swishyla for PM'ing their review to me. It means a lot to me, so thank you guys so much. :)**

 **Please review! It's still my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter, so don't hold back on sharing your thoughts. I appreciate all of your feedback and it means so much. Thank you, everyone! :) :)**

 **Fun Fact: The BMW belonging to Claire's father in the movie actually belonged to John Hughes in real life. (Lord, rest his soul.)**

 **Well, I believe I stated everything that I wanted. The time has arrived for you all to sit back, relax, and enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading, everyone! Please review! :D :D**

* * *

Comrade's POV

It took a little more effort than I thought it would for me to find Bender and Claire. They were at the far opposite end of the library, sitting nearby one of the emergency exits and not saying a word to each other. The Queen Bee had just pulled out a series of photos from this wallet that looked too worn out to be hers and was now flipping through them with curiosity glowing in her eyes. The Criminal, on the other hand, was sitting at the edge of his chair and examining a huge pile of beauty products that was covering the stool in front of him - courtesy of none other than Claire. Damn, did she _really_ think that it was necessary for her to carry around _that much_ makeup?

At the sound of my approach, Claire stopped flicking through the pictures and peeked up. Her face immediately morphed into an annoyed scowl, making it obvious that she wasn't pleased with how I had walked in on her alone time with the Rebel. She rocked her leg a little, but I couldn't tell if she was ordering me to go away or trying to brush her knee against Bender's to get him to look at her. Either way, I took a seat on the sofa that was across the stool from the Burnout's seat and shot the Redhead a venomous look that made it look like I was saying, "Either deal with me being here or go cry about it to your daddy, Princess." In return, Claire rolled her eyes and continued to browse through the pictures that she was still holding - as if staring at me for too long would result in her rep getting destroyed.

I positioned my guitar so it was resting beside my leg again, just as Bender - who had barely acknowledged my presence - picked up an eyebrow brush and compact mirror from the sea of cosmetics. An insulting smirk instantly began to fiddle around with the corners of my lips, considering that the first thought that came to my mind was that I was about to witness _John Bender_ take some time out of this detention to pamper his eyebrows. But then, at the sight of the darker-haired teen actually beginning to use the brush to _clean_ _his teeth_ , my vague grin vanished and my eyes widened in utter disbelief.

Though, Claire didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by it. She furrowed her brow, watching with no direct emotion shown on her face as the Delinquent continued to scrub his teeth. Then, the Princess dropped her attention back down to the stack of photos and absently flipped to the next one. Until now, I had failed to notice that the first plastic flap contained Bender's driver's license - which, by the way, perfectly resembled a pissed off mugshot. That could only mean one thing: all of those pictures belonged to him.

I slowly sunk back against the back of the couch and started drumming my fingers against my knee in a miserable attempt to entertain myself. At the same time, Claire rose her head and stared at Bender with a hopeful glint in her eyes. "Are all of these your girlfriends?" she asked, clearly wanting to engage in some sort of conversation with him by this point.

Bender smacked his lips a little and kept his eyes on his reflection as he answered, "Some of 'em." After that, he placed the mirror and eyebrow brush back down onto the stool.

The Diva began to skip through the pictures again, sounding genuinely interested, "What about the others?" I cocked an eyebrow, half of me wondering the same question and the other half feeling strongly convinced that Claire was in the middle of comparing all of those other girls to her.

"Well..." Bender picked up a fancy bottle of perfume and examined it more closely, "...some I consider my girlfriends and ... some I just consider." He then removed the cap and sprayed some of the perfume into the air to smell it.

I kicked my feet up onto the only edge of the stool that wasn't occupied, unfazed by how my bangs had fallen in front of my right eye. "What in the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?" I asked, sounding much more demanding than confused.

"Consider what?" Claire persisted shortly after. She watched, almost looking insulted as Bender made an unsatisfied face towards the smell of her perfume and tossed the bottle back into the pile of beauty products, missing my feet by just a couple of inches.

The Criminal responded like it should've been obvious, "Whether or not I want to hang out with them."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, "Вы _не можете_ быть серьезным." ' _You_ can't _be serious._ '

Claire shook her head a little, the look on her face giving it away that she didn't fully believe him. "You don't believe in just one guy, one girl?" she asked innocently.

Bender finally turned to look at her, hesitating for a moment before he skeptically knitted his eyebrows together, "Do you?"

"Yeah ... it's the way it should be." Claire replied. She flipped to the next photo in the collection, just barely looking at it before she flicked her attention over to me. "What do you think, Comrade?"

I stared blankly at the hole in my shoe and lightly rocked my feet from side-to-side as I replied, "I believe that there's someone for everyone - that there's always one man and one woman who are meant to be together." The tone I was using made it sound like I didn't give a shit about the conversation; but there was complete honesty flickering in my eyes.

"Yeah, well, not for me." Bender remarked as he continued to nonchalantly search through the makeup.

The Beauty Queen looked up from the pictures again, "Why not?"

The Rebel shot daggers at a few vials of her nail polish, "How come you got so much shit in your purse?" He was clearly trying to evade the topic.

"How come you have so many girlfriends?" Claire inquired, narrowing her eyes inquisitively.

I puffed my bangs out of my face, watching the two of them with my face drained from the tiniest amount of interest.

Bender eyed me for a couple of seconds, right before he glanced back at the Redhead, "I asked you first."

Claire looked away and raised her arms in a shrugging motion. "I don't know." She then started to flick through the photos again. "I guess I never throw anything away."

A naughty smirk fiddled around with the corners of the Crook's lips, "Neither do I."

"Oh..." Claire said, sounding dumb as she averted her attention from the darker-haired teen.

At the same time, I crinkled my nose in disgust and stared at Bender like he had just stuck his tongue down someone's throat. "How charming..." I said with my accent drenched in sarcasm, "...that's _very_ nice, John. If that doesn't make your parents proud, I don't know what will." Without another word, I swept my feet off from the stool and ignored the deadly glare that Bender shot in my direction as I leaned forward. In another lazy attempt to occupy myself, I picked up one of the tubes of lipstick from the Diva's huge makeup collection and uncapped it. Then, out of total boredom, I began to repeatedly screw it up and down.

Claire furrowed her brow at me in thought, but then glanced back at Bender. "Well," she said, "since you told me and Comrade that, I hope you plan on telling Roxanne."

At the sound of the Handicapped's name, my eyes instantly grew and I tensed up at the edge of the couch. My fingers froze, no longer toying around with the tube of lipstick. My face hardened into a venomous scowl.

"Hold up a minute, Drama Queen," I spoke up, finally jumping back into the conversation. The Redhead and the Burnout immediately snapped their heads over to me, but my eyes remained on Claire. "Let me set this straight: I don't give a shit if John sleeps with _you_ or with any of the girls that are in those pictures," I growled, ignoring her snooty glare as I gestured quickly to the album in her hand, "but hell will freeze over the moment I allow a guy like _him_ to do _anything_ with Roxy."

Bender bitterly narrowed his eyes, "And what exactly is wrong with a guy like me, _Russian Roulette?_ " When he addressed me by that stupid nickname, his tone had grown much more threatening; but that didn't stop me from scoffing at his question.

"There's not enough time left in this detention for me to fully answer that, but I'll be _more than happy_ to sum it up for you, Мудак." As soon as I made eye contact with him, my glare darkened even more. ' _Asshole._ ' "You are a no-good, perverted, ungodly son of a bitch who will _never_ be good enough to date my sister. She deserves respect - someone who _won't_ use her for a one-night stand and then say she's on their long list of so-called girlfriends just because they stashed a picture of her in their wallet."

One of the edges of the Criminal's mouth curled back, making him look like a pissed junkyard dog, "Are you saying that I don't know how to show girls respect?"

"You don't know how to show respect, period!" I exclaimed, sharply enhancing the judgement in my voice. "You think showing respect means screwing around with a bunch of random skanks who clearly don't have any self-esteem? In case you haven't noticed, Rebellion 101, Roxy isn't like any of the girls in those photos."

"How in the hell would you know, Russian Massacre?" Bender demanded, obviously not liking my comment on his 'girlfriends'. "You can't be with her every second of the day! You don't have the slightest clue what she's up to when you're not around!"

I could feel my cheeks starting to burn hotter than molten lava. "Is that your subtle way of calling my sister a slut?" I asked.

"No." The Rebel leaned back in his chair and hooked his hands behind his head, suddenly sounding nonchalant. "It's my way of saying that Roxy is a big girl. She can make her own decisions without you being a jackass and getting in the way. If she wants to go out with me, then there's _nothing_ that you can do to stop her." He flashed me a disdainful, mocking smile at his last sentence, causing me to draw in a deep breath through my nostrils like I was a bull that was getting ready to charge. At the same time, Claire rolled her eyes at how Bender was still hooked on Roxy instead of her.

"Listen, dipshit, I care about Roxanne more than anybody else on this planet ever could. She is a very valuable person and if you _really_ believe that I'm going to sit back and let you use her to your own advantages, you damn sure have another thing coming." I sneered, feeling the heat on my face increase with every word I spoke. "You're going to have to get through me before you even think about going near her. Besides, like I said before, she deserves somebody who is a hell of a lot better than _you._ " I viciously clenched my teeth and leaned a little further, keeping my eyes locked on Bender. "I _refuse_ to let anything bad happen to her, you hear me? She's _not_ going to get hurt! Not again!"

As soon as those final two words came out of my mouth, Bender stiffened and his smirk disappeared from his face like it was never there.

" _Again?_ " Claire squawked, staring at me with large and confused eyes. "What do you mean, _again?_ "

By this point, I felt like I was about to burst into flames from feeling so hot. Nonetheless, instead of saying anything back, I sharply narrowed my eyes and shot up from the couch at the speed of lightning. After that, I threw the tube of lipstick that I'd been holding with full force back into the pile of beauty cosmetics and grabbed my guitar by its neck. At last, I turned my back on the Princess and the Hoodlum and stormed away, leaving them in stunned silence.

* * *

Allison's POV

I held my bag close to my stomach, slightly rocking myself as I dragged my eyes along the floor. I was zoning in and out repeatedly. At one moment, I was peeking at Jockstrap and Brian from the corner of my eye and watching in slight interest as they searched through each others wallets. Then, at the very next, I was lost in the thought of how Comrade had kissed me. I could still taste the mixture of Coke and lemon juice from his lunch on my lips and something inside of my chest was saying that I should've been happy, but the Reality Check was acting like nothing had happened between the two of us at all. And as much as I despised it, being happy wasn't an option right now.

"This is the worst fake ID I've ever seen." Andrew informed, causing him to earn a few breathy chuckles from Brian. "You realize you made yourself sixty-eight?"

The Dweeb grinned sheepishly, "Oh, I know. I know. I goofed it."

At the mention of a phony ID, Roxy turned her head in their direction and arched an eyebrow in genuine curiosity. She was still sitting on the opposite side of me, now wearing Bender's scarf around her right wrist and tapping her foot lightly to a random beat against the floor.

"What do you need a fake ID for?" Sporto inquired.

With a tiny shrug, Brian answered like it was the most obvious thing in the whole world, "So I can vote."

A highly amused grin immediately broke out across the Handicapped's face, showing off her dimples and some of her teeth. "So you made your age say that you were sixty-eight?" Her words were soaked in giggles. "No offence, Brian, but you do realize that you have to be eighteen to vote, right? You could've made yourself to be nineteen or even twenty-something. I'm sure that would make that phony ID of yours a hell of a lot more believable."

"I know, you're right. It was stupid," Brian snickered, still finding this topic entertaining for some reason, "but I had this made for me when I was fourteen. I wasn't thinking clearly back then."

Andrew and Roxy chuckled simultaneously, but just as the Athlete continued to look through the Nerd's wallet, I noticed that something had caught Brian's attention. I followed his gaze, only to discover that he was looking at Roxy's backpack from where it was still lying between mine and her legs on the floor. It was a lavender bag, covered in fancy embroidery that was designed to look like hundreds of black roses; and unlike mine, I could tell that it didn't smell like vodka or cigars.

"Hey, Roxanne, uh..." Brian said, sounding like he was trying to break some horrible news to a preschooler, "Is it okay if I ... um..."

Roxy raised her hand, signaling him to stop before she answered, "Go ahead. Help yourself."

As soon as she gave her approval, I reached down and grabbed the backpack by its strap, lifting it up from the ground and offering it to the Geek. But instead of taking it from the same strap, he grabbed the other one to prevent our hands from touching and practically ripped the bag away from me. A faint spark of hurt shot across my eyes, but it went unnoticed as I watched Brian immediately unzip the main compartment of Roxy's backpack and begin to search through its contents like he was a starving raccoon that was searching for food in a dumpster. Andrew straightened and leaned a little forward, watching as well.

I knew that a majority of the items inside of the Handicapped's bag consisted of braille books and Special Needs assignments, but that didn't stop me from watching. Brian pulled out a paperback copy of _The Outsiders_ by S.E. Hinton and started flipping through it; but after realizing that the entire book was in braille, he tucked it back into the bag and continued his search. He did the same with Stephen King's _Firestarter,_ looking satisfied with how Roxy was still choosing to read. But then, just as I thought that he was about to pull out another book to examine, he froze and squinted in confusion.

"Hey, Andy," Brian said, stealing a quick glance at the Jock, "look at this."

"What is it?" Andrew asked.

The Brain pulled out a framed picture from the back of the bag - but it wasn't just any picture. At the sight of it, my eyes widened in evident shock. It was the photo of Mrs. Alexandrov that I've seen on the dresser in Roxy's room. She was leaning against a tree, wearing a bright orange tank top and a mid-length skirt that was covered in pastel pink cherry blossoms. She had hardly any makeup on, considering she didn't need it to look beautiful. Her hair was brunette like Comrade's, except hers was much longer and noticeably wavy. Her eyes perfectly resembled two shiny emeralds, overflowing with love and life as she flashed a full-toothed grin - looking like she was laughing at whoever was taking the picture. And lastly, her hands were folded on top of her belly, which was round enough to give away that she was at least four months into a pregnancy.

"It's a picture." Brian noted, stating the obvious. He and Andrew stared at the photo, clearly captivated by how pretty Mrs. Alexandrov looked; but there was still confusion glowing in their eyes as to who she was. Nonetheless, just as Sporto turned his head to look at Roxy and opened his mouth to say something, he was interrupted when another voice blurted out, "What in the hell is going on here?"

The color instantly drained from Brian's face as he jumped, almost rocking the entire sofa from getting caught so off guard. At the same time, Roxy, Andrew, and I quickly snapped our attention in the direction of the furious outburst. It was none other than the Reality Check, who was now standing beside the other couch that he'd been sitting on previously. He sat his guitar down against the sofa, but kept his eyes locked on the Dork and Wrestle Mania. I swear, the scowl that was printed across his face was intimidating enough to terrify the devil.

"What do you two assholes think you're doing?" Comrade snarled. Every time he peeked at the picture, his anger faltered a little; but then, it flared back up when he continued to shoot daggers at Brian and Andrew. "Give me that!" Comrade barked.

Brian didn't think twice before he held the picture out in front of him, surprisingly not trembling. Comrade stormed forward and snatched the photo out of his hands, right before he reached his other hand out and yanked the Handicapped's backpack away from the Dweeb's lap. Brian then flew his hands up to his shoulders, just in case the Reality Check wanted to see if he had anything else.

"Neither of you had the right to see this, you hear me?" Comrade sneered, slightly waving his mom's picture around to clarify what he meant. "What, are you two _asking_ to get your asses kicked by me? Because the last time I checked, damn jocks and spineless nerds were supposed to use their heads to think about more than just varsity jackets, cheerleaders, geometry homework, and meetings with the Latin club! Just what in the hell were you two doing with my sister's property anyway?"

By now, Brian looked like he was on the verge of crapping his pants; but Andrew was still genuinely curious about the picture of Mrs. Alexandrov.

Roxy quickly straightened herself against the back of the sofa and spoke up before the commotion could worsen. "Comrade, успокойся!" she exclaimed, the look in her silver eyes giving it away that she wasn't pleased with her brother's behavior. "I was aware that they had my bag! Brian asked for permission to look through it and I told him that it was fine!" ' _Calm down!_ '

After that, everything in the library fell silent. It was almost like the earth had stopped spinning - like you would be able to hear a pin hit the floor from a mile away. Comrade's eyes grew, giving it away that he definitely wasn't expecting to hear from Roxy that she _allowed_ her backpack to be scavenged through. I watched as the Reality Check stared at the Handicapped in utter disbelief, right before he flicked his attention over to me. I made eye contact with him and nodded slightly, as if I was confirming that Roxy was telling the truth. But, despite everything that just happened, half of my brain was still drowning in the thought of Comrade kissing me.

Roxy made a motion with her hands that was supposed to represent her mind exploding, right before she sunk back against the back of the couch and sighed. I could tell that she felt bad about raising her voice like that to her brother, especially since she understood that it wasn't entirely his fault. After all, he couldn't help having depression.

About ten seconds went by before Comrade glanced back at Brian, who was slowly beginning to regain his color. Without a word, the Reality Check shot him and then Andrew a look that I could tell meant, "You're lucky." After that, he turned away and walked back over to the opposite couch, sitting down slowly. By this point, the silence was starting to become more awkward than unsettling; but nobody dared to speak up yet.

Brian placed his hand over his heart and quietly deflated his chest in relief. At the same time, Comrade pushed his hair out of his face and lured his attention down to the picture of his mother. His eyes trailed up from her bloated stomach to her beaming face, the look on his face making it seem like he didn't really give a damn about the picture; but I knew that he was secretly battling the urge to frown.

Andrew leaned back in his seat again, but refused to break his attention away from the Reality Check. "Comrade, is that your and Roxy's mom?" he asked, sounding concerned.

There was a small moment of hesitation before Comrade replied, "Yeah, it is."

"Well, um..." Brian chimed in, pretending to clear his throat as he chose his words carefully. "She looks like, uh, a very lovely and charming woman."

Comrade straightened his lips, "Yeah ... she was."

"Was?" The concern instantly thickened in Jockstrap's voice as he furrowed his brow. "Did you just say she _was?_ "

"Yeah." Comrade lifted his head, ignoring the few strands of hair the fell back in front of his face as he stared at Andrew and Brian. "She's dead."

I noticed Roxy cringe a little from the corner of my eye, and there was a small piece of me that couldn't help but wonder how Comrade could manage saying something like that so bluntly. Andrew's eyes widened to the point where they looked like they were about to fall out of their sockets, just as Brian's jaw practically dropped all the way down to the floor. The two of them nearly dropped each other's wallets, but managed to regain their grip by the last second.

"Oh my God..." Sporto said, definitely at a loss for words.

"Comrade ... Roxy..." Brian reeled his jaw back in, searching eagerly for his voice. "I'm ... my God, I-I'm so sorry..."

I bit down on my bottom lip and peeked at the Nerd from the corner of my eye, as if I was saying, "You shouldn't have said that..." I could tell that Roxy was thinking the same thing, because she dropped her attention down to her lap and started to twirl her thumbs around in a miserable attempt to distract herself.

The Reality Check bitterly narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Keep your damn pity to yourselves. We don't need it." He then stashed the framed photo of Mrs. Alexandrov back inside of Roxy's backpack, making sure that it was hidden behind a couple of folders and books before he yanked the zipper up, sealing it shut. After that, he crossed his arms over his chest and slumped back against the back of his sofa, drowning himself in the new silence. This definitely wasn't good. I had to do something to cut the tension, or else someone was bound to explode.

"You wanna see what's in my bag?" I asked, still rocking myself.

Brian and Andrew looked over at me and held their hands up, answering together, "No." It was like they hadn't been stunned by Mrs. Alexandrov's death just moments before.

Roxy scoffed in disapproval at the boys, just as I turned my head towards them with my face hardening into a wary scowl.

"Of course." Comrade spoke up shortly after. He was also glaring at the Brain and the Athlete, ordering them without words to keep their mouths shut.

I lifted my bag into the air and turned it upside-down, keeping my defensive look straight as I watched all of my clothes, female products, stolen items, and random knick-knacks pour out like a flurry of hail during a wild winter storm. It filled the small gap of space that kept me and Brian separated, gaining his and Andrew's attention in less than a second. Roxy rose her head at the noise and stared in my direction, looking completely natural as I untangled a teal scarf from my bag's strap before setting it down between me and her.

Andrew leaned forward, looking unnerved as he stared at my pile, "Holy shit."

Comrade extended his leg out and nudged Brian a little roughly in the shin with the head of his converse. "Hey," he said, clearly not liking how the Dweeb was picking at a pair of my blue cotton panties, "hands off her merchandise, String Bean. You can look, but you can't touch."

The Jock met my eyes for a moment, "What is all of that stuff?"

"Do you always carry this much shit in your bag?" Brian questioned, sounding somewhat inconsiderate.

I rubbed my hands together, glancing down at all of my stuff, "Yeah ... I always carry this much _shit_ in my bag."

The Reality Check cocked an eyebrow as he watched the Nerd pick up one of my tampons and examine it with slight disgust in his eyes.

"You never know when you might have to jam." I informed.

Brian sat the female monthly protector down and stared at me insensitively. "Are you going to be like a shopping bag lady?" He paused for a moment, unaware of the cold stare that Comrade was piercing him with. He gestured slightly with his hand as he continued, "You know, like, sitting in alleyways and, like, talk to buildings and wear men's shoes and that kind of thing?"

The look on my face was dry, despite how humiliated and hurt I felt inside. "I'll do what I have to do." I assured.

The Geek looked away for a moment, scratching his ear in thought, "Why do you _have_ to do anything?"

I stared directly into his eyes and replied slowly, "My home life ... is _unsatisfying._ "

"So, you're saying that you'd subject yourself to the violent dangers of these Chicago streets because your home life is _unsatisfying?_ " Brian expanded his eyes at his final word, making it obvious that he was judging me.

"I don't have to run away and live in the street." I sneered defensively. "I can run away and I can go to the ocean. I can go to the country. I can go to the mountains. I could go to Israel, Africa ... Afghanistan."

"Don't forget New York or California," Roxy reminded with a fresh dimpled grin, "we'll be hitting up all of the stores at one moment and then kicking back on the beach the next."

"And don't think that I'm not tagging along when you go to Paris." Comrade piped in. I turned my head and looked at him, watching as a faint smile fiddled around with one of the corners of his lips as soon as we made eye contact. "You, me, and Roxy are going to visit the catacombs and have the best five-course meal on top of the Eiffel Tower together. After that, the three of us will head for Hawaii and then Egypt."

A sliver of a grin managed to slip across my face as I stared back at him - and at that moment, I knew that I wanted him to kiss me again. Unfortunately, at the sight of Brian gawking at me like I had just grown another head, it didn't take long for my smile to fade away. He rolled over and leaned towards the Jock, who had been distracted by the beaver shot for the past minute.

"Andy, you want to get in on this?" Brian waited for Andrew to look at him before going on, suddenly starting to sound a lot like John. "Allison here says she wants to run away because her home life is unsatisfying."

The grins from Comrade and Roxy's faces immediately crumbled away. I could feel my face starting to redden as the wetness of tears began to weld up in the corners of my eyes.

"Don't be a jerk, Brian." Roxy grumbled, only to be left unacknowledged by the Athlete and the Nerd.

Andrew hesitated for a moment, folding his hands over the dirty picture on his chest. "Well, everyone's home life is unsatisfying," he said, eventually turning to look at me, "and if it wasn't, people would live with their parents forever."

"Yeah, yeah, I understand, but I think hers goes beyond what, you know, people like you, me, Roxy, and Comrade, would consider _normal_ unsatisfying." Brian explained, making it perfectly clear that he thought that I was insane.

"Never mind, forget it. Everything's cool." I growled, right before I grabbed my bag and started to angrily pack all of my stuff back up.

"Allison..." Comrade started, but he was cut off when Andrew leaned forward and spoke.

"What's the deal?"

"No." I shook my head, packing my bag a little faster before I stopped and glared dangerously at Wrestle Mania. "There's no deal, _Sporto._ Forget it. Leave me alone."

"Wait a minute." A knowing look formed on the Jock's face. "If you're carrying around all of that crap in your purse, either you really wanna run away, or you want people to _think_ that you wanna run away."

I leaned forward a little and spat the first thing that came to my mind, "Eat. Shit." Then, I shot up from the couch and stomped off, leaving my bag and all of my merchandise behind.

* * *

Comrade's POV

A mixture of fury and shock charged through my veins as I watched the Basket Case storm away. The last time I ever saw her do that was three weeks ago - back when Mr. Reynolds came into her bedroom after a long day at work and decided to lecture her at the top of his lungs about how she was worthless and that she didn't deserve to be called his child. Allison ended up trying to defend herself by telling him to get the hell out of her life and to go get an STD, right before she turned her back on him and stomped to the other side of the room. Unfortunately, her old man ended up retaliating by grabbing her by the arm, yanking her back, and violently backhanding her across the face. Then, for the thousandth time, he pretended that there never was a fight and continued to ignore his daughter's existence.

And right now, I didn't need to see Allison's face to know that the Dweeb's words hurt her a hell of a lot more than her dad's slap did.

Brian leaned forward and raised his eyebrows at Wrestle Mania as he spoke, "The girl is an island unto herself, okay?" After that, he turned and actually _pushed_ Allison's bag away, as if it would cause cancer if it stayed near him for too long.

Roxy hung her head and released a quiet, clearly disappointed sigh - like she expected better behavior from the Geek.

At the same time, my face morphed back into a lethal scowl and I jumped up onto my feet. "You son of bitch!" I bellowed at Brian, which immediately had him and Andrew looking at me like a pair of lost puppies. "Why in the hell did you say all of that? Don't you realize how stupid that was of you? You know _shit_ about what she goes through!" I gave a quick gesture in the direction that Allison had left in, grinding my teeth a little as I continued. "I swear, Pipsqueak, the next time you open your damn mouth, you _better_ take the time to consider your words beforehand! Otherwise, I'll make it my personal business to teach your squeaky ass a lesson!" At my final sentence, I held up a closed fist to assure him that I wasn't fooling around.

In less than a second, Brian paled and his eyes became googly with terror; but before he could get a chance to search for his voice, I lowered my fist and started walking in the same direction that I'd seen the Recluse march off in - leaving my guitar and sister behind.

"Comrade, wait." Sporto said with his voice drowning in concern. He threw the Dork's wallet at his chest and stood up. "I'm coming with you."

I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Она не любит тебя, бандаж. Глупый тегов вместе..." under my breath; but other than that, I kept walking and didn't bother to look back at him. ' _She doesn't like you, Jockstrap. Stupid tag-along..._ '

Andrew and I walked in total silence with him looking from left to right and me leading the way by a few inches. Eventually, we spotted Allison leaning over a bookcase that was nearby some of the old computers, looking almost like she was trying not to hurl from feeling so distraught. With no hesitation, I picked up the pace and jogged around to the opposite side of the bookcase so I could see her face. Just as I suspected, her cheeks were bright red and her eyes were rimmed with tears. She stared at me and opened her mouth, but at the sound of another set of footsteps approaching the scene, she quickly jerked her head around and watched with a glare as Wrestle Mania leaned against the other end of the bookcase.

"Hi." Andrew murmured, suddenly sounding unsettled. He dragged his eyes along the floor for a moment. "You wanna talk?"

Klepto snapped back instantly, "No."

The Jock looked directly into her eyes, causing that familiar knot of heat to return to the pit of my stomach. "Why not?" he persisted.

"Go away." Allison snarled after a short pause.

Andrew glanced away and gave a tiny shrug, "Where do you want me to go?"

I didn't think twice before opening my mouth to give him a few 'pleasant' suggestions, but before I could get a word out, I was cut off when Allison repeated herself in a much firmer tone, " _Go away!_ "

"You heard her, Wrestle Mania." I sneered. "Go."

The Athlete flicked his attention back and forth from me to the Kook, hesitating before he rolled his eyes to himself and turned his back on us. I rested my chest against the bookcase and watched as he started to walk away, thinking to myself that Allison was going to start unleashing her emotions as soon as he was out of sight. However, I was proven wrong when my best friend straightened and abruptly exclaimed at Jockstrap, " _You_ have problems!"

Andrew instantly spun back around and scowled at her, "Oh, _I_ have problems?"

"You do anything everybody ever tells you to do!" Allison barked, quickly gesturing around the library. " _That_ is a problem!"

"Okay, fine." Andrew shifted on his feet and nodded vaguely. "But I didn't dump my purse out on the couch and invite people into my problems!"

Allison's jaw dropped in shock, just as Sporto jumped his attention over to me and added, "And I sure as hell didn't turn into a dick who snapped at every little thing, even when it involved somebody else apologizing!" In less than a second, my eyes widened - but I couldn't tell if I was more stunned over the Athlete's words or over the fact that they actually managed to render me speechless.

"Did I?" Andrew asked, getting an eyeful of my reaction before he approached Allison and stared at her compassionately. "So what's wrong? What is it?"

The Basket Case remained quiet, clearly unsure of whether or not she should trust him.

Andrew blinked a couple of times, right before he glanced down at the floor and sighed to himself. He then peeked over at me to see if I would answer his question; but all I did was narrow my eyes and glance down at the top of the bookcase to avoid looking at him.

"Is it bad?" Sporto looked at Klepto again. "Real bad?"

The tears enhanced a little in the corners of Allison's eyes as she continued to stay silent, darting her attention down to the ground.

"Parents?"

At the sound of that word, a small piece of me flinched and Allison made eye contact with Andrew again.

The Athlete turned and rested his back against the bookcase, staring off to the side before looking down at his shoes. Though, when he continued to receive nothing but silence, he turned his head and stared at the Recluse again.

Her expression was miserable as she slowly nodded and replied, "Yeah."

I bit down on the inside of my cheek, not knowing whether to feel angry or upset. Either way, I wasn't admiring how Andrew was the one Allison was socializing with - especially over something as serious as her home life.

Wrestle Mania nodded a little and looked away again, clearing his throat with a quick gulp. "What'd they do to you?" he asked, his eyes overflowing with sympathy.

There was another pause before Klepto answered, "They ignore me."

"Yeah." Andrew almost looked like he was trying not to cry, blinking repeatedly and nodding his head. "Yeah."

Another moment of silence slipped by before I finally lifted my head, only to notice Sporto now glancing over his shoulder at me.

"What about you, Comrade?" he asked, causing Allison to look at me as well. "I can tell something is going on with you, too. What is it?"

I stared at him blankly, despite how a frown was trying to tug at the corners of my lips. "It doesn't matter." I growled, shooting daggers. "You wouldn't understand ... _nobody_ would understand."

"Comrade..." Allison attempted to speak, but I didn't stick around for another word.

I pushed myself off from the bookcase and marched away, desperately wishing that the memories of my alcoholic old man and battered mom would leave me alone.

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter completed! :D**

 **The famous circle scene is coming up next. I hope you are all as excited as I am. :) :)**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please keep in mind that it's my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter. I absolutely love feedback and I appreciate it all very much, so don't be shy to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. :)**

 **Another Fun Fact: The library in the movie was actually the high school's gymnasium. It was transformed to look like a library since the actual library was too small.**

 **Also : Please keep in mind that chapters will take more time to complete, considering I'm currently back in school. Nonetheless, I'm _not_ quitting this story, so don't worry about that. Updates will just take a little longer due to homework, studying, and projects. I thank you all for understanding. :)**

 **By the way, my poll on "Who Are Your Two Top Favorite Characters in The Breakfast Club?" is still going. In case any of you want to check that out and cast your votes, it's on my page.**

 **Again, I hope you all had fun reading this chapter! :)**

 **Well, all of my fantastic viewers, I believe we've reached the end of this chapter.**

 **Please review! :D**

 **Until next time, happy reading and writing to you all! :D :D** **God bless! :) :)**

 **Crystalteen, out!**

 **THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!**


	13. Are Those Real Diamonds?

**A/N: What up, all of my awesome viewers? :)**

 **I hope you are all as excited as I am, because the famous circle scene has arrived! :D :D**

 **Nonetheless, before we begin, I would like to take a moment to thank Applejax XD and AvidMovieFan16 for taking their time to review the previous chapter. ****It means so much to me, so thank you guys very much. :)**

 **Please review! It's still my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter, so don't hold back on sharing your thoughts. I appreciate all of your feedback and it means so much. Thank you, everyone! :) :)**

 **This just in, this story now has over 3, 825 views! :D :D You are all absolutely amazing and I want to take the time to thank all of you for taking the time to read "The Reality Check & the Handicapped" up to this point. I would also like to thank the ones who have added this story to their favorites and follows, and again to the ones who reviewed. Thank you all so much. Let's keep it up! The story ain't over yet! :) :)**

 **Fun Fact: The circle scene wasn't scripted or planned out. John Hughes (RIP to him) told the cast to ad-lib this scene in order to make the film more emotional, intense, and relatable. If I may say so myself, I thought it was done perfectly.**

 **Also : I would just like to point out that I don't own the song "Dancing in the Sky" by Dani and Lizzy. All rights to this song goes to its actual owners.**

 **Well, I believe I stated everything that I wanted. The time has finally arrived for you all to sit back, relax, and enjoy the circle scene!**

 **Happy reading, everyone! Please review! :D :D**

* * *

Comrade's POV

Somehow, the seven of us ended up reuniting by sitting together in a circle. Claire and Bender were sitting across from each other, leaning against two pillars with complete boredom decorating their faces. Andrew and Brian, on the other hand, were lounging against the steel bars of the railing. The Nerd was lying one of his arms across a stool, looking like he was trying to fix a loose screw in a terrible attempt to keep himself occupied. Though, the Athlete was fiddling around with the medallion around his neck, watching it shine in the light with his brow furrowed in phony interest.

Allison was sitting on her knees and staring off into space, not seeming to mind how she was sandwiched between two other stools. As for me, I was sitting between the Jock and the Basket Case, keeping the two of them separated with my guitar lying across my lap and my back resting against one of the stools. And lastly, Roxy was sitting between the Princess and the Geek with one of her legs curled up underneath the rest of her body and her other stretched out in front of her like the Redhead's. She was tightening Bender's scarf around her right wrist and twirling some of the fibers around her other hand's index finger, looking just as bored as the rest of us.

For a couple of minutes, nobody said a word; but then, Claire decided to stir up a game in which we took turns asking each other random questions. Just thinking about the activity made me roll my eyes, but I kept my mouth shut and continued to stare at one of the florescent lights from above, watching it flicker. I could tell that Bender wasn't crazy about the idea either, considering he was still staring off into the distance and lazily scratching his arm. Although, at the sight of the other detainees - especially Allison and Roxy - becoming somewhat interested, I couldn't help but prepare myself for the first question. Of course, it was for none other than the Jock.

"What would I do for a million bucks?" Andrew asked, pointing at himself with slightly raised eyebrows. He crossed his other arm over his stomach, taking a moment to think before answering. "I guess I'd, ah, do as little as I had to."

Claire groaned, sounding both annoyed and disappointed, "That's boring."

I rolled my head over, ignoring the few strands of hair that fell in front of my face as I stared at the Athlete. "Yeah, that's a pretty pathetic answer, Jockstrap." I informed.

Andrew rolled his eyes at me and glanced back over at Claire, as if I hadn't said anything. "Well, how am I supposed to answer?" he inquired.

The Diva laughed a little, battering her eyelashes as she explained, "The idea is to, like, search your mind for the absolute limit. Like, um..." She pursed her lips in thought, just as Brian stifled a yawn. Then, after a few seconds, a smile that looked almost entirely flirtatious stretched widely across Claire's face, "Would you drive to school naked?"

Sporto's cheeks grew a little pink as he broke out into a huge grin. "Umm, ah..." He chuckled, sounding somewhat nervous. "Would I have to get out of the car?"

"What kind of question is that, Sporto?" Roxy asked with a couple of highly entertained giggles dripping from her accent. At the same time, I rolled my eyes at that disturbing scenario and looked at the Jock again as I said with no amusement whatsoever, "No shit, Sherlock."

"Of course." Claire confirmed shortly after.

"In the spring or winter?" Andrew asked, refusing to acknowledge mine and Roxy's comments.

I puffed my bangs out of my face, watching Klepto from the corner of my eye as she flicked her attention back and forth from Wrestle Mania to Gingersnap. Judging by the blunt expression that was plastered on her face, it was obvious to me that she was in the middle of planning something.

"Doesn't matter." Claire paused and shrugged her shoulders. "Spring."

A slight sting of jealousy electrocuted through my chest as I then witnessed Allison turn her head to look at Bender, who was still showing no signs of wanting to be included in this so-called activity.

Though, just as I was about to look away, the Recluse glanced over and made eye contact with me - as if she had somehow sensed me staring at her. Her face was still showing no direct emotion, but when she slowly raised her eyebrows at me, I felt a vague smirk start to toy around with one of the corners of my mouth. I nodded at her lightly, knowing that she was inviting me without words to be a part of whatever it was that she was plotting.

Sporto was still asking questions, "In front of the school or in the back of the school?"

"Is there really any difference?" Roxy asked as she continued to fiddle around with Bender's scarf.

Claire peeked over at her, looking vaguely irritated while answering Wrestle Mania, "Either one."

Andrew pondered his options for a couple of seconds before coming to a conclusion, "Yes."

The Princess gawked at him in surprise, almost looking like she was on the verge of drooling from imagining Jockstrap flexing his muscles and striding down the halls in nothing but his birthday suit. The Handicapped placed her hand over her mouth as another string of snickers escaped from her system. At the same time, an amused grin spread widely across the Dweeb's face and I rested the back of my head against the stool again, not even bothering to hold back my disgusted groan.

"Это просто прелесть..." I grumbled, trying my hardest to burn that nasty mental picture out of my brain. ' _That's just lovely..._ '

"I'd do that." Allison suddenly spoke up. Her eyes flickered around the circle, watching nonchalantly as everyone instantly locked their attention on her. "I'll do anything sexual. I don't need a million dollars to do it either."

Claire narrowed her eyes for a moment before rolling them distastefully, "You're lying."

"I already have." Allison remarked, paying no mind to the doubtful - but slightly intrigued - stare that was printed across the Thug's face. "I've done just about everything there is, except for a few things that are illegal."

My sister's grin wavered a little and a faint, awkward smile molded across Andrew's lips.

The Basket Case then flashed a sly smirk and her eyes lit up with an almost seductive glow. "I'm a nymphomaniac," she said at last.

With no hesitation, I flew my hand up to my mouth and bit down on my thumbnail to help subdue my chuckles. Luckily, they went unnoticed.

Claire scoffed and glanced up at the ceiling, "Lie."

"How in the hell can you tell whether or not she's lying, Gingersnap?" I demanded, managing to make myself sound mildly defensive. Claire pierced me with a snooty glare, but I ignored it and continued to back up Allison's lie, "You don't know what types of 'activities' she gets involved in outside of this place."

Brian stared at me, looking utterly dumbfounded in my words. "Are your parents aware of this?" he asked after he flicked his attention back over to the Kook.

Allison faltered for a moment at the mention of her parents, but continued convincingly, "The only people I told are Comrade, Roxy, and my shrink."

Roxy straightened her lips at the mention of her name, making it obvious that she was taking no interest in the conversation whatsoever. I, on the other hand, could feel my cheeks starting to grow sore from how hard I was fighting the desire to smile. It got to the point where I had to look down at my lap and pretend to wipe something off from my face to hide the smirk that was starting to twitch across my lips. Within seconds, I regained my composure and lifted my head back up, only to realize that I was now the center of attention.

"And you're okay with it?" Brian asked with his eyebrows raised in bewilderment.

"What do you think, Small Fry?" I nonchalantly flicked my hair out of my face and shrugged. "Like any human, she has the right to do anything that she wants during her personal time. As long as she's not doing anything that could result in her possibly getting hurt, kidnapped, or even killed, I don't really care. I'm fine with her being who she is ... and she sure as hell doesn't need to change for anyone."

It took a couple of seconds for the Brain to contemplate my answer. "What about you, Roxy?" he asked, eventually turning his head so he could look at my sister. "You're fine with it, too?"

Roxy hesitated and slowly dragged her nail across some of the fibers of Bender's scarf before she replied, "Sure ... it's her life, after all. Her life, her decisions."

"And what about your shrink?" Andrew butted in, sounding genuinely curious as he locked his eyes back on Klepto. "What did he do when you told him?"

A mischievous smile welded up on the corners of Allison's mouth as she replied, "He nailed me."

At that point, I had to start pinching myself in the leg to prevent myself from cracking up. The Athlete was now wearing a discouraged frown and the Dork was grinning uncomfortably.

There was a moment of silence before the Princess spoke up, nodding sarcastically, "Very nice."

Allison went on, still sounding totally natural, "I don't think that from a legal standpoint what he did can be construed as rape since I paid him."

Almost instantly, I lost the urge to laugh and found myself pursing my lips in disappointment. As hilarious as I thought it was to see these idiots fall into the Kook's trap, there was no point in making any smart comments about being molested. That wasn't something to joke about under any circumstances. I could tell that the Handicapped must've felt the same way, because she stopped messing around with the Rebel's scarf and crossed her arms over her chest.

Claire's face hardened in disgust, "He's an _adult!_ "

"Yeah," Klepto confirmed, nodding softly, "he's married, too."

"Ugh!" The Redhead grimaced, flinging her arms down to her sides in desperate revulsion. "Do you have any idea how completely gross that is?"

By now, Roxy was starting to run her bottom lip through her teeth and I was pretending to scratch at an itch on my cheek.

"Well, the first few times-" Allison started, but was cut off.

"The first few times?!" Gingersnap squealed in disbelief. "You mean, he did it more than once?"

"Sure."

Claire sneered, "Are you crazy?"

Brian rolled his eyes from his new fetal position and spoke up, "Obviously she's crazy if she's screwing a shrink." He stared at Claire like it was the most obvious statement in the world, causing me to narrow my eyes. Regardless of how I knew that Allison didn't really have a psychologist, Brian's comment hit a little too close to home for me.

"Just because someone has a shrink doesn't make them crazy, Johnson." I informed in a dead serious tone.

The Princess looked at me disdainfully, like I didn't have the slightest clue as to what I was talking about. Though, she didn't say anything and slid her attention back over to the Basket Case like I wasn't worth the time.

Allison leaned forward a little, "Have you ever done it?"

Claire straightened against the pillar and looked away, rudely smacking her lips before she replied, "I don't even have a psychiatrist."

Klepto rolled her eyes and rephrased, "Have you ever done it with a _normal_ person?"

"Wait, didn't we already cover this?" Claire asked, starting to look a little unsettled as she took a small glance around the circle.

Bender spoke up for the first time since we all reunited, "You never answered the question." His voice was flat, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was deeply interested in having the opportunity to learn about the Diva's sex life.

"Look," Claire sneered after a short pause. She raised her eyebrows and placed her hand on her chest. "I'm not gonna discuss my private life with total strangers."

I rested the back of my head against the stool's leg, watching the Recluse as she retaliated, "It's kind of a double-edged sword, isn't it?"

"A what?" Claire asked, sounding both dumb and harsh.

"Well, if you say you haven't, you're a _prude._ " Allison explained, raising her eyebrows slightly. "You say you have, you're a _slut._ "

The Handicapped's shoulders sagged a little as she looked off to the side, unaware that she was now staring at Brian's shoes. "It's a ловушка..." she grumbled with her arms still crossed. ' _Trap..._ '

"A trap." I translated for the rest of the detention goers.

Allison nodded in agreement and continued her lecture, "You want to, but you can't. And when you do, you wish you didn't. Right?"

Claire prissily shook her head, "Wrong."

"Or," Allison went on, staring her directly in the eyes, "are you a tease?"

The Beauty Queen shot her a hostile look and refused to respond. It was obvious that she was trying to make herself look threatening, but was failing miserably.

"She's a tease." Andrew chimed in, nodding slightly at the Basket Case.

"Oh, sure," Claire jeered as she threw her arms across her bony waist, "why don't you just forget it?"

"Oh, you're a tease and you know it." Jockstrap retorted, paying no attention to Allison as she glared at him from the corner of her eye. "All girls are teases."

Roxy turned her head in the direction of his voice and scoffed, "That's a load of bull, Sporto. It ain't our fault that guys get turned on so easily. Take some responsibility."

A smirk formed on the Delinquent's face at my sister's words. He took a few seconds to just stare at her before he glided his attention back over to the Princess and said, "She's only a tease if what she does gets you hot."

"I don't do anything!" Claire snapped defensively.

" _That's why,_ " Klepto broke out into a wide and beautiful grin, "you're a _tease._ "

Claire's cheeks were starting to redden by this point, "Okay, let me ask you a few questions."

Allison turned to face her again, looking sort of surprised, "I already told you everything."

"No." Claire spat instantly. "Doesn't it bother you to sleep around without being in love? I mean, don't you want any _respect?_ "

Mine and Bender's eyes widened simultaneously at the Redhead's final word.

"I don't screw to get respect." Allison snarled smugly. "That's the difference between you and me."

Claire scoffed slightly and rolled her eyes, "It's not the only difference, I hope."

"Face it," Bender butted in, sounding mildly entertained, "you're a tease."

"I'm _not_ a tease!" Claire protested.

"Sure you are." The Criminal was unfazed by her snooty scowl. "Sex is your weapon. You said it yourself. You use it to get respect."

Claire froze for a moment, thinking back, "No, I never said that. She twisted my words around." By this point, she was beginning to sound panicked.

"What do you use it for then?" Bender inquired.

I peeked over at him before looking at Claire again, "She probably uses it in exchange for votes to boost her chances at becoming _Prom Queen._ " My face was perfectly nonchalant, but I still allowed some scorn to drip off from my final two words.

"Shut up, Comrade!" Queenie snapped at me, starting to look like she was seconds away from crying. She then glanced back over at the Rebel and exclaimed, "I don't use it, period!"

"Oh, are you medically frigid or is it psychological?" Bender asked.

"There's a chance that it could also be biological." I supplied, clearly faking my interest.

Claire clenched her eyes shut and shook her head. "I didn't mean it that way!" she barked, smacking her hands down to her lap in exasperation. "You guys are putting words into my mouth!"

"Well, if you'd just answer the question." John said.

"Why don't you just answer the question?" Brian asked, adding more stress to the Princess.

"Be honest." Andrew piped in.

The Hoodlum gave a slight shrug, "No big deal."

"Yeah, answer it." Brian urged.

"Answer the question, Claire." Sporto added, beginning to sound a bit bored.

Me and the Recluse watched in silence as Queenie's eyes started to anxiously dart between the three bickerers.

"Talk to us." Bender pressed. He took a quick peek over at my sister, observing how she was still looking down at the floor with her lips pursed before he looked at Claire again.

The Athlete raised his voice slightly, "Come on! Answer the question!"

"It's only one question." Brian said in a lame attempt to comfort the Redhead.

"Don't be a jerk!" Wrestle Mania exclaimed.

"Come on, answer it! It's easy!" John persisted. "It's only one question."

"NO!" Claire suddenly erupted at the top of her lungs, causing Roxy to flinch and me to stiffen for a moment. She then flung her fists down to her sides and looked straight at the Delinquent as she yelled, "I NEVER DID IT!"

A heavy silence invaded the circle as a satisfied smirk pieced itself together on Bender's face and Claire looked away in vague embarrassment.

"I never did it either." Allison spoke up, lightly shaking her head with a faint, remorseful glint in her eyes. Although, she couldn't resist letting out a chuckle at what she said next, "I'm not a nymphomaniac ... I'm a compulsive liar."

Brian turned and stared at the Basket Case in shock, while Bender squished his lips together to restrain himself from cackling. The Diva's eyes were much larger than I had ever seen them, piercing with rage.

"You are such a bitch!" Claire bellowed, looking pissed to the point where steam was about to pour out of her ears. "You did that on purpose just to fuck me over!"

Allison leaned back, unaffected by the outburst. "I would do it though..." She paused for a second, and I could've sworn that I saw her sneak a peek in my direction. "If you love someone, it's okay."

I straightened my lips, starting to remember the multiple tastes of Coke, Cap'n Crunch, and Pixy-Stix sugar. It might've not been noticeable, but hearing the word 'love' come out of the Kook's mouth sent an abrupt chill down my spine and caused the pit of my stomach to feel a little warm. I was violating the plan - starting to think about the kiss again. In order to keep my friendship with Allison maintained, I _had_ to move on like nothing had happened between us. So, I shoved that memory to the far back of my mind and kept my attention locked on the Queen Bee.

"I can't believe you. You're so weird." Claire whined, shaking her head. "You don't say anything all day and then when you open your mouth ... you unload all of these tremendous lies all over me."

Jockstrap didn't hesitate to put in his two-cents, "You're just pissed off because she got you to admit something you didn't want to admit to."

Claire huffed and pushed her bangs out of her face, "Okay, fine. But that doesn't make it any less bizarre."

"What's bizarre?" Andrew demanded. He took a quick scan around the group, double-taking me and Roxy. "I mean, we're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all."

The Princess shot him a bitter look that made it clear that she didn't believe him. "Oh, and how are you bizarre?" she inquired.

Andrew looked away from her and stared in the center of the circle so he wasn't looking at anybody. When he didn't respond, Allison - who had been chewing on her bottom lip - answered for him, "He can't think for himself."

"She's right." Andrew confirmed with a tiny nod, speaking softly. "You guys know what, uh ... what I did to get in here?"

I glanced around the circle to see if anyone would reply, but nobody did. So, Andrew continued, still without making eye contact with anyone, "I taped Larry Lester's buns together."

The Handicapped immediately lifted her head, just as the Diva released a small laugh and the Geek gaped in shock.

"That was you?" Brian asked meekly.

Andrew peeked over and made eye contact with him, "Yeah, you know him?"

Brian faintly nodded, "Yeah, I know him."

"I know him, too." Roxy piped in, looking just as stunned as the Nerd. "He sometimes volunteers to help me with my braille assignments during lunch."

The guilt on Sporto's face instantly thickened at my sister's words. "Well, then, you two know how hairy he is, right?" he asked.

Bender chuckled a little and I narrowed my eyes at him, ordering him without words to keep his damn mouth shut.

"Well, when they pulled the tape off..." Andrew stopped, drawing in a slightly nervous breath, "...most of his hair came off and some - some skin, too."

In less than a second, the color rushed out of Roxy's face and my eyes became as wide as saucers.

"Oh my God." Claire muttered, clearly disappointed in herself for laughing.

"And the bizarre thing is..." Andrew continued, looking at me and Allison, "...is that I did it for my old man."

" _Of course you did._ " Was the first thought that came to my mind, " _Everyone wants to impress their damn fathers._ " I disdainfully locked my jaw in place, practically forcing myself to remain silent as Wrestle Mania went on with his Saturday detention backstory.

"I tortured this poor kid because I wanted him to think that I was cool." The Jock already looked and sounded devastated. "He's always going off about ... you know, when he was in school. All of the wild things he used to do ... and I got the feeling that he was disappointed that I never cut loose on anyone, right?"

He drew in another shaky breath before continuing, "So, I'm - I'm sitting in the locker room ... and I'm taping up my knee ... and Larry's undressing a couple of lockers down from me ... and he's kind of..." Andrew paused for a second, looking close to tears, "...he's kind of skinny ... weak. And I started thinking about my father, and his attitude about - about weakness. And the next thing I knew ... I - I jumped on top of him and - and started whaling on him. And my friends, they just laughed and cheered me on."

A frown slipped across Roxy's face as she stared sympathetically in the direction of Andrew's voice.

"And afterwards..." Sporto pursed his lips in shame before continuing, "...when I was sittin' in - in Vernon's office ... all I could think about ... was Larry's father ... and Larry having to go home ... and ... and explain what happened to him."

I slowly unclenched my jaw, noticing the tears that were beginning to pool up in Allison's eyes as the Jock curled his hand into a fist.

"And the humiliation ... the fucking humiliation that he must've felt. It must've been unreal." Andrew shook his head, his voice starting to crack with solemn chuckles seeping into his words. "...I mean, how - how do you apologize for something like that? There's no way ... it's all because of me and my old man." He drew in yet another breath, trying desperately not to break down as he held up his clenched fist again, "Oh, God, I fucking hate him..."

A single tear leaked down Roxy's cheek when Sporto cursed, but she quickly wiped it away before it could be noticed by the other detainees. By now, Bender was looking down at his lap with a similar expression to mine plastered on his face and Brian was hiding his eyes from view.

"He's like this - he's like this mindless machine that I can't even relate to no more ... Andrew!" Wrestle Mania bellowed, imitating his father and making me wince. "You've got to be number one! I won't tolerate any losers in this family. Your intensity is for _shit!_ Win! Win! Win!" He was practically bawling at this point, cleaning his eyes eagerly. "You son of a bitch ... you know, sometimes I wish my knee would give. Then, I wouldn't be able to wrestle anymore ... and he could forget all about me."

"Did it work?" I asked, showing no direct emotion in my voice whatsoever. Although, the look in my eyes gave it away that something inside of me was deeply annoyed.

Andrew looked at me naively, "What?"

I stared directly into his eyes while clarifying in a slightly slower tone, "Was your old man proud of you for doing that to Larry?"

There was a small pause, in which the Jock used to wipe away the remains of his tears. "No..." he answered eventually, pursing his lips, "...he was pissed at me for getting caught, actually."

I slowly slouched back against the stool again, murmuring, "Screw him, Jockstrap."

Shortly after that, Bender spoke up like he had just broken out of a trance, "I think your old man and my old man should get together and go bowling."

Andrew peeked over at him and released a half-hearted snicker, shaking his head. He didn't know how lucky he was. I'll admit, Mr. Clarke sounded like one hell of an aggravating and overbearing jackass, but at least he cared about how far his son got in life. _My_ _dad_ didn't give two shits about me or Roxy. As soon as we were born, he despised us and wanted nothing to do with us - no matter what we did. Trying to make your father proud was nothing but a waste of time...

"It's like me, you know, with my grades." The Dweeb, who hadn't said anything since the mention of Larry Lester, spoke up. "Like when I - when I..." He stammered for a moment, trying to string his words together before continuing. "When I step outside myself and, like, when I look in at myself, you know?" He stared at the floor, lightly picking at his bottom lip. "And I - and I see me ... I don't like what I see ... I really don't."

"Why do you say that?" Roxy asked with compassion laced thickly around her accent.

"What's wrong with you?" Claire inquired shortly after, looking almost as sympathetic as my sister. "Why don't you like yourself?"

Brian refused to look up as he replied, "It sounds stupid, but ... 'cause I'm failing shop."

The Criminal, who had looked away almost immediately after the Nerd started to talk, rolled his head back over. He stared at Brian intensely, the look on his face sending out the clear message, "You've _got_ to be shittin' me right now." Even the few remaining tears that were in Allison's eyes were starting to dry up from disbelief.

"We had this assignment, you know, to make this, like, ceramic elephant," Brian continued, motioning with his hands, "and, um, we had eight weeks to do it. And then, you know, we're supposed to - it was like a lamp." He made a quick gesture that was supposed to represent him flicking on a light. "And when, you know, when you pull the - the trunk, the light was supposed to go on ... but, you know, my light didn't go on."

Roxy tilted her head a little, starting to look concerned since the Dork's voice was so faint and drenched in disappointment.

"I got an 'F' on it," Brian said, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him, "I've never got an 'F' before in my life."

Bender rolled his eyes slightly and rested his head back against the pillar again.

"When I signed up, you know, for the course, I mean, I thought I was playing it real smart. You know, 'cause I thought, you know, I'll take shop." Brian gave a little shrug. "It'll be such an easy way to maintain my grade point average."

"Why'd you think it'd be easy?" Bender asked, looking away from the rest of us again.

Brian slowly looked up and hesitated a moment before answering, "Have you seen some of the _dopes_ that take shop?"

I lightly grinded my teeth, just as Claire closed her eyes and made a face that made it look like she was saying to the Brain, "You shouldn't have said that..."

Bender's eyes darkened, " _I_ take shop."

"So do I." I sneered immediately after, but the Hooligan continued with what he wanted to say like I hadn't said a word.

"You must be a _fuckin'_ idiot."

"I'm a fuckin' idiot 'cause I can't make a lamp?" Brian asked, suddenly sounding defensive.

John replied with total sarcasm, "No, you're a _genius_ because you can't make a lamp."

Brian faltered for a second before speaking again, "What do you know about trigonometry?"

"I could care less about trigonometry."

"Bender, did you know without trigonometry, there'd be no engineering?" Brian demanded as he smartly bobbed his head around.

"Without lamps, there'd be no light." Bender retorted, evidently growing more impatient.

"Uh oh," I huffed and rolled my eyes sarcastically, "lovers' quarrel."

"Okay," Claire spoke up to prevent a fight from breaking out, gesturing around with her hand, "so neither one of you is any better than the other one."

"I can write with my toes." Allison said unexpectedly. A slight smile curled up on one of the corners of her mouth as she shifted herself so she could be sitting on her butt, "I can also eat, brush my teeth..."

Claire stared at her in astonishment, "With your feet?"

The Basket Case folded her hands and added, "Play _Heart and Soul_ on the piano." A small giggle escaped the Handicapped's mouth at the sound of that, causing a flicker of fascination to light up in the Criminal's eyes.

"I can make spaghetti." Brian shared, now lying down on his side.

"Is that even a talent?" I asked as I furrowed my brow at him in uncertainty.

Allison turned her head and looked at me for a split second before announcing to the circle, "Comrade can sing."

With no hesitation, the other detention goers snapped their attention over to me. All of them - except for Roxy, Allison, and Bender - had their faces decorated in astonishment. My eyes grew, feeling like they had become too large for my head. Then, from the corner of my eye, I shot the Recluse a look that made it look like I was exclaiming, "Why in the hell did you have to tell them that?!"

"You sing?" Andrew asked, sounding just as surprised as he looked.

I looked down at my guitar and pursed my lips, seeing no point in trying to lie when the proof was right there. "Yeah," I said after a small pause, shrugging slightly, "but not that often anymore. I don't really have the desire to sing in front of other people."

"Why don't you play something for us?" Claire asked, as if she didn't hear my last sentence.

I narrowed my eyes a little, "Didn't you just hear what I said, Your Highness? I don't sing for other peoples' entertainment."

"Aw, what's the matter, Russian Roulette?" Bender asked, clearly staging the concern that was laced around his voice. "You got stage fright?"

"Screw you, dipshit." I snarled. I shot him a brief glare before looking around at the other detainees. "I just lost the interest in preforming in front of an audience. And besides, I can't even remember the last time I actually sang."

"So what? Why don't you just give it a try?" Andrew asked. He scanned the group and spoke a lot more understandingly. "I mean, there's only the seven of us in here - not much of an audience. Let's see what you got up your sleeve."

Despite how I looked perfectly natural, it sure as hell took _a lot_ of willpower for me to prevent cringing at Sporto's final sentence.

"Yeah," Brian agreed almost instantly, "give it a shot, Comrade."

"All right, _fine._ " I groaned and rolled my eyes, knowing that they weren't going to back down until I carried out their demand. So, after quickly restyling my hair into a new ponytail to prevent it from falling in front of my face, I placed my black-and-red guitar in the proper position: with the body resting against my thigh and my free hand supporting its neck.

"Um..." The Nerd suddenly sounded confused. "Don't you have, you know, a guitar pick?"

I peeked up at him, placing my fingertips against the strings as I bluntly replied, "No." After that, everything fell silent and I took a moment to close my eyes. It really had been a long time since I last sang. In fact, I couldn't even recall half of the songs that I had spend hours working in the past - except for my most recent one. There were absolutely no words that could possibly describe how much I wanted to avoid singing _that_ song, but I had no choice. It was the only song that I could fully remember, and these idiots weren't going to let me back down now.

I opened my eyes and paid close attention to my fingers as I began to delicately strum the strings. At that moment, all I could think was this: the faster I began, the sooner the song would be over.

" _Tell me, what does it look like in heaven? ... Is it peaceful? Is it fr-ee-ee like they say?_ " My voice was as smooth as caramel, dripping from a spoon and perfectly wrapping around my accent as the lyrics floated through the air, " _Does the sun shine brig-ig-ht forever? ... Have your fears and your pain gone away-ay-ay?_ "

In less than a second, the Brain's jaw dropped like he had just seen a poltergeist and the Thug stiffened against the pillar in disbelief, as if he thought that I was somehow lip-syncing. At the same time, the Snob's eyes widened in shock and the Athlete raised his eyebrows at me like he was actually impressed. The Handicapped and the Basket Case were the only ones who were watching me nonchalantly, considering the two of them had heard me sing before. There was even a slight grin tugging at one of the corners of Allison's lips ... but if only she knew how much I didn't want to be in this place right now.

" _'Cause here on earth, it feels like everything ... good is missing ... since you left. And here on earth, everything's different - there's an emptiness._ " I looked up at the ceiling and stared at one of the florescent lights, watching it flicker as I continued to strum the strings in the same peaceful manner. " _Ohh-ohh, I -_ _I hope you're da-a-a-a-ancing in the sky ... I hope you're singing in the angel's choir. And I hope the a-a-a-angels know what they have ... I'll bet it's so nice up in heaven since you arrived..._ "

Just then, as I decided to take a glimpse around the group, I noticed Roxy starting to run her fingers across the locket around her neck. It didn't take much effort for me to understand what thoughts were running through her head, but I quickly looked away from her - not wanting to share the same ones - and continued the song.

" _So tell me, what do you do-oo up in heaven? Are your days filled with love and light?_ " I turned my head and stared at the ugly statue that was still noticeable in the distance, ignoring how there didn't seem to be any creativity put into it. " _Is there music? Is there art and invention? ... Tell me are you happy? Are you more aliv-ive-ive?_ " I lowered my attention back down to my guitar, ignoring how my fingers were starting to grow a little sore and telling myself in my head that it was almost over, " _'Cause here on earth, it feels like everything ... good is missing ... since you left. And here on earth, everything's different - there's an emptiness..._ "

Sympathy was starting to flicker in Brian's eyes, giving it away that he was thinking the same thing as Roxy. Nonetheless, I continued to ignore it.

" _Ohh-ohh, I - I hope you're da-a-a-a-ancing in the sky. And I hope you're singing in the angel's choir. And I hope the a-a-a-angels know what they have ... I'll bet it's so nice up in heaven since you arrived._ " I lifted my head again and started to slow the lyrics down, keeping my eyes in the center of the circle. " _I hope you're da-a-a-ancing in the sky. And I hope you're singing in the angel's choir._ _And I hope the a-a-a-angels know what they have ... I'll bet it's so nice up in heaven since you arrived..._ " I ran my fingers across the correct strings one final time, " _Since you've arrived._ " My voice faded, announcing that the song was - thankfully - over.

For a moment, nobody moved a muscle or said a word; but then, as I moved my guitar out of its position and prompt it up against the railing between me and Andrew, everyone - except for Bender - started to clap their hands like they had just experienced a live concert.

"That was awesome, Comrade!" Allison said, still grinning.

"Yeah, really great." Sporto contributed.

Brian reeled his jaw back in, still looking a bit compassionate. "Did you write that yourself?" he asked.

"Yeah, I wrote it a couple of months ago. It's my most recent song ... I call it _Dancing in the Sky._ " I quickly changed the topic after that, maintaining my perfectly nonchalant tone. "So, does anyone else here have anything that they can do?"

There was a small pause before Claire grinned and nodded towards Andrew, "What can you do?"

"I can, uh..." The Jock rocked forward a little, flashing half of a smirk and chuckling, "...tape all of your buns together. What about you, Roxanne?"

My sister arched an eyebrow and glanced in his direction, "Me?"

"Yeah, you." Andrew confirmed. "What kind of talents do you got?"

"Well ... uh..." Roxy straightened her lips and battered her silver eyes in thought, beginning to blush from being put on the spot like that. "I can, um ... I can read multiple books in a day ... I can get dressed without any help ... and I'm a pretty fast runner. I've always been interested in the subject of track. Sometimes, Crystal Rose even volunteers to be my seeing-eye dog so I can, uh..." Roxy - for some reason - faltered for a moment, "...run laps in the gymnasium during my study hall."

Suddenly, Bender butted in, "I want to see what Claire can do." He was still wearing the same unimpressed expression that had been on his face during my performance.

The Redhead's smile faded from her face and she stared at the Burnout in bewilderment, "I can't do anything."

"Now, everybody can do something." Bender retorted, making it sound like he was speaking to a preschooler.

Claire peeked up at the ceiling and lightly smiled, "There's one thing that I can do." She hesitated, biting down on her bottom lip before she started to shake her head, "No, forget it. It's way too embarrassing."

John raised his eyebrows at her, "You ever seen _Wild Kingdom?_ " He waved his hand slightly. "I mean, that guy's been doing that show for thirty years."

The Diva took a second to think before she gave in, "Okay." She grabbed her fancy handbag from where it was stashed between her and Roxy, right before she added in utter seriousness, "But you got to swear to God you won't laugh."

Bender scoffed and crossed himself, while Roxy tilted her head a little to the side at the sound of Queenie beginning to rummage through her purse.

"Okay." Claire murmured to herself. She shook her head and snickered in disbelief, just as she pulled out a tube of lipstick and uncapped it, "I can't believe I'm actually doing this."

I cocked an eyebrow and watched in confusion as the Snob placed the lipstick between her breasts and lowered her head. It didn't occur to me right away, but the realization that she was actually applying the lipstick without touching it eventually came to me. Unlike me, Andrew and Allison were watching with interest and Brian almost looked captivated. It took a couple of seconds, but when Claire lifted her head back up, it was revealed that she had perfectly applied the ridiculous shade of pink on her lips.

Roxy's lips twitched slightly in disappointment, considering she couldn't see what just happened. Nevertheless, as soon as the other detainees - excluding me - started to applaud for the Princess, she didn't think twice before joining in just to be polite. I, on the other hand, remained confused, wondering how in the hell _that_ was supposed to be a talent as I peeked over in the Criminal's direction. Unlike the other detention goers, he was clapping in a much slower and sarcastic fashion.

"All right! That's great!" Andrew cheered, grinning brightly. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

Claire smiled, screwing the lipstick back down before she put it away, "Camp, seventh grade."

Bender continued to mockingly clap until he had everyone's attention. "That was great, Claire..." He stared at the Redhead insensitively as she began to wipe the lipstick away, "My image of you is totally blown."

"You're a shit!" Allison sneered at him. "Don't do that to her. You swore to God you wouldn't laugh."

Bender kept his eyes on the almost crying Claire as he retaliated, "Am I laughing?"

"John..." Roxy attempted to speak, but she was barely audible and was easily cut off by Sporto.

"You fuckin' prick!"

The Criminal immediately turned his head to look at the Jock, his eyes widened with fury. "What do you care what I think anyway?" Bender asked cruelly, causing my sister to draw in a quiet and an uneasy breath, "I don't even count, right? I could disappear forever and it wouldn't make any difference."

Jockstrap slowly looked away, his anger transforming into guilt right on the spot. At the same time, Claire looked down at the ground in shame and even Klepto looked like she was trying to prevent herself from crying.

"I might as well not even exist at this school, _remember?_ " Bender then slid his attention over to me, resulting in the two of us to make eye contact, "Everybody here would sleep better at night knowing that I'm not here, correct?" The hatred in his voice increased - if that was even possible, "I'm not even worth it."

I slowly narrowed my eyes at him and glared, recalling how I had said that stuff to him in the bathroom and then on the stairs. Nonetheless, I refused to say anything back and continued to watch as John made Claire his target again.

"And you..." He shook his head a little, "...don't like me anyway."

Claire stared at him in disbelief, her brown eyes blurred with tears, "You know, I have just as many feelings as you do and it hurts just as much when somebody steps all over them."

"God, you're so pathetic." Bender snarled, scowling threateningly. "Don't you ever - _ever_ compare yourself to me, okay? You got everything and I got shit!" He was completely unfazed by how hurt the Princess looked and carried on. "Fuckin' Rapunzel, right? School would probably fuckin' shut down if _you_ didn't show up."

The Handicapped looked down at her lap and covered both of her ears, but I could tell by the huge frown on her face that she could still hear everything that was going on.

"Queenie isn't here." The Criminal sarcastically moved his head around to represent somebody panicking. "I like those earrings, Claire."

I grazed my bottom lip with my teeth, just as Claire looked away from John and whispered, "Shut up..."

"Are those real diamonds, Claire?" Bender continued harshly.

"Shut. Up."

"I bet they are. Did you work for the money for those earrings?"

The Redhead reluctantly made eye contact with him again, "Shut your mouth!"

"Or did your daddy buy those for you?" Bender asked.

"SHUT UP!" Claire shouted, causing me and Roxy to wince.

Bender wouldn't let her off the hook, growing angrier with every passing second, "I bet he bought those for you. I bet those were a Christmas gift, right?"

I clenched my eyes shut for a moment before looking away, glaring in the direction of the hideous statue. Memories of my old man kicking my mom around and yelling at her like she was a dog played in my brain like a brutal slideshow, resulting in me having to draw in a deep breath through my nostrils to keep myself from throwing a punch at something or someone.

"You know what I got for Christmas this year?" Bender bellowed, which automatically had my cold stare drawn back over to him. "It was a banner fuckin' year at the old Bender family! I got a carton of cigarettes."

By this point, Roxy had given up on trying to tune the arguing out and was now twirling her thumbs around on her lap with tears starting to prickle up in her eyes.

"The old man grabbed me and said, 'Hey, smoke up, Johnny!'" The Criminal shook himself by the neckline of his white undershirt while imitating his father. "Okay, so go home and cry to your daddy. Don't cry here, okay?"

"That's _enough,_ Bender." I growled, suddenly feeling the strong urge to defend the crying girl. "You made your damn point. Now, _shut up_ and leave her alone."

Claire sniffled and wiped away as many of the tears from her face as she could - just like my mom used to do to prevent me and Roxy from worrying about her.

My sister balled her hands into fists and rubbed the water away from her eyes, making it look like she hadn't been on the verge of crying just moments before.

"My God," Andrew piped up, shattering the silence, "are we gonna be like our parents?"

The Princess peeked over at him with tears still shining in her eyes, "Not me..." She then turned to look at the Rebel again, "...Ever."

Bender slowly nodded his head at her, but didn't say anything back. As for me, hell would have to freeze over before I _ever_ grew up to be like my father.

"It's unavoidable..." Klepto chimed in, her dark orbs now bright red and salty, "...just happens."

"What happens?" Claire asked as Bender rested the back of his head against the pillar again and stared up at the ceiling.

Allison snuck a peek at me from the corner of her eye before she turned to look at the Redhead. "When you grow up..." she stated, "...your heart dies."

"Who cares?" Bender asked dismissively.

The Kook glanced over at him, cracking a tearful grin as she whispered, "I care..."

"Me, too." Roxy said in a voice that was just as soft and delicate. "So much."

After that, Allison turned her head and looked at me again; but this time, we made eye contact. Until now, I had failed to notice the few tears that had managed to leak down her cheeks - and I could tell that she was asking me without words that if I cared. I remained silent, feeling my glare crumble away from my face and transform back into my usual nonchalant expression as I stared directly into Klepto's eyes. Then, I carefully used the tip of my thumb to stroke away one of her tears and raised my eyebrows a little, letting her know that I _did_ care.

Suddenly, Brian spoke up, "Um, I was just thinking, I mean ... I know it's kind of a weird time, but I was just wondering, um..." He pursed his lips for a moment and swallowed thickly before continuing, "...What's going to happen to us on Monday? When we're all together again?" His eyes widened a little, "I mean, I consider you guys my friends. I'm not wrong, am I?"

At the word 'friends', a tiny grin curled up on one of the corners of Roxy's mouth; but it immediately disappeared at the Nerd's final question.

"No." Jockstrap replied, just as my sister shook her head.

Brian almost sounded scared, "So - so on Monday, what happens?"

"Are we still friends, you mean?" Claire asked, wanting to have the question clarified. "If we're friends now, that is."

"Yeah." Brian replied.

The Princess stared at the floor for a few seconds before she connected her eyes with his, "Do you want the truth?"

"Yeah, I want the truth."

Claire released a sad sigh, as if she'd been hoping that the Geek would ask her to lie. Then, she answered, "I don't think so."

Brian looked away from her, looking like he had just been shot straight through the heart. At the same time, I released a small scoff and lowered my attention to the hole in my shoe, staring at it blankly.

"With all of us or just John?" Allison asked in a half-hearted attempt to lighten the mood.

Claire cleared her throat and glanced down at the ground again, "With all of you."

"That's a real nice attitude, Claire." Wrestle Mania sneered, refusing to look at her.

"Oh, be honest, Andy!" The Diva rolled her eyes, suddenly looking rude. "If Brian or Comrade came walking up to you in the hall on Monday, what would you do?"

I sharply narrowed my eyes and peeked up at the mention of my name, watching as Andrew made brief eye contact with me before doing the same to Brian.

"I mean, picture this, you're there with all of the sports. I know _exactly_ what you'd do." Claire informed. "You'd say 'hi' to them and then, when they left, you'd cut them all up so your friends wouldn't think you _really_ liked them."

At that moment, I didn't know which hurt more: the thought of being stabbed in the back for the millionth time in my life, or how the Princess worded the likely scenario with the word 'cut'. Nonetheless, I continued to scowl like I wasn't the slightest bit affected.

"No way." Andrew denied, clearly trying to convince himself more than the rest of us.

"Okay," Allison said to the Redhead, "what if I came up to you? Or Roxy?"

At the sound of the Handicapped's name, John shot Claire a warning look; but that didn't stop her from saying, "Same exact thing."

Roxy's shoulders immediately sunk in disappointment and the tiny spark of hope that'd been shimmering in her silver eyes vanished.

Bender lurched forward, face beating red and eyes swarming with a whole new level of rage as he abruptly yelled, "YOU ARE A BITCH!"

Claire stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before she hissed back, "Why, 'cause I'm telling the truth? That makes me a bitch?"

"No, 'cause you _know_ how shitty that is to do to someone!" Bender exclaimed, pointing a finger at the Diva. "And you don't got the balls to stand up to your friends and tell them you're gonna like who you wanna like!"

I watched Brain as he pressed his lips tightly together and looked up at the ceiling, wiping a single tear away from his face. It was obvious that he was trying his hardest not to break down and sob. Whether he was upset over the thought of leaving today with no friends or over how he would never be able to call Claire his girlfriend, I didn't know. But if I had to guess, it was definitely both.

"Okay, what about you, you hypocrite?" Claire challenged. "Why don't you take Allison to one of your heavy metal vomit parties?"

The Basket Case released a teary giggle and flashed a shy grin at the Rebel as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"Or take Brian out to the parking lot at lunch to get high?" Claire went on, raising her voice. "Or what about Andy and Comrade for that matter? What about me? Or Roxanne?"

Bender started to angrily suck on his teeth, but the Beauty Queen wasn't finished yet. "What would your friends say if we were walking down the hall together?" she demanded, shaking her head in disapproval. "They'd laugh their asses off, and you'd probably tell them that you were doing it with me so they'd forgive you for being seen with me."

"Don't you _ever_ talk about my friends!" John snapped dangerously. "You don't know any of my friends, you don't look at any of my friends, and you certainly wouldn't condescend to speak to any of my friends! So, you just stick to the things that you know!" He madly swung his arm around, listing stuff off. "Shopping, nail polish, your father's BMW, and your poor, rich, drunk mother in the Caribbean!"

"SHUT UP!" Claire screamed as she shot her leg out and kicked the Criminal as hard as she could.

Tears started to weld up in Roxy's eyes again, but she attempted to hide them by looking down and blinking repeatedly.

"And as far as being concerned about what's going to happen when you and I walk down the hallways at school, you can forget it!" Bender barked, jabbing his finger much more firmly in her direction. "'Cause it's _never_ going to happen! Just bury your head in the sand and wait for your fuckin' prom!"

Claire shook her head, sobbing once again, "I hate you!"

"Yeah?" John crossed his arms over his chest. "Good!"

There was another short moment of silence before Brian spoke up again. "Okay, then I assume Comrade, Roxy, Allison, and I are better people than you guys, huh?" He stared at me and Allison, faintly nodding his head, "Us weirdos."

He focused his attention on the Basket Case, "Would you - would you do that to me?"

"I don't have any friends..." Allison replied quietly, "...except for Roxy and Comrade."

Brian rolled his eyes and grinned a little at her, "Well, if you did have more."

"No..." Allison answered, waiting for a couple of heartbeats to pass before she added, "...I don't think the kind of friends _I'd_ have would mind."

The Dork then flicked his bright blue eyes over to me, "What about you, Comrade?"

My face was blank, but there was dead seriousness electrocuting in my eyes as I slowly shook my head, "Hell no. I'm the only one who is allowed to decide on who I do and don't want to hang out with in my life." I decided to leave out the fact that the only actual friends I had were Allison and Carl, "If somebody has a problem with a friend of mine, then that's their situation to deal with. It's my life, so screw them."

"And you, Roxy?" Brian asked, turning his head to look at the Handicapped. "Would you do that?"

She sent a weak smile in the direction of his voice, "Of course I wouldn't ... I don't give a damn about what other people have to say. My friends are my business, not theirs."

Brian nodded a little and looked down at the carpet, speaking softly, "Well, I just want to tell each of you that I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't and I _will_ _not..._ " A single teardrop ran down his cheek, "...'cause I think that's real shitty."

Claire looked at him helplessly, "Your friends wouldn't mind because they look up to us."

Brian almost instantly released a humorless chuckle, "You're so conceited, Claire ... you're so conceited." He wiped one of his eyes with his hand. "You're so, like, full of yourself. Why are you like that?"

"I'm not saying that to be conceited!" the Princess exclaimed, starting to bawl again. "I hate it! I hate having to go along with everything my friends say!"

"Who says that you _have_ to go along with them, Princess?" I asked, glaring at her slightly. "If you don't want to, then _why_ do you do it? What in the hell is the point?"

Claire glanced off in the opposite direction. "I don't know. I don't-" She shook her head and wiped away a tear from her chin. "You don't understand. You don't - you aren't friends with the same people that Andy and I are friends with. You know, you just don't understand the pressure that they can put on you."

Brian scoffed and pointed at himself, "I don't understand _what?_ You think I don't understand pressure, Claire?" He paused for a second before exploding, "Well, fuck you! Fuck you!"

My eyes widened a little from not expecting Brian Johnson to curse like that - especially to the girl he had feelings for. At the same time, the Redhead gaped in shock and the now weeping Nerd buried his face into his sleeve. Even the Criminal - who had either been bored or pissed during at least ninety percent of the time we'd spent in this circle - was starting to look concerned.

"You know why I'm here today?" Brian asked, still keeping his face out of sight. "Do you?"

At the strained sound of his voice, a few tears managed to escape from Roxy's eyes; but she quickly wiped them away before they could be seen, just like she had done during Andrew's confession.

Brian sniffled and moved his arm, refusing to look at anyone, "I'm here ... because Mr. Ryan found ... a gun in my locker."

In less than a second, Roxy became as white as a sheet and Claire's eyes grew to the point where they looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. I could've sworn that my heart stopped for a moment, listening to Brian's words repeat themselves in my brain as I recalled what had happened a couple of hours earlier with Carl. I had joked about getting caught by Mr. Ryan while skateboarding down the Empire State Building. No wonder Brian had looked unsettled at my mention of the nosy history teacher.

"Why did you have a gun in your locker?" Andrew asked, staring at Brian sympathetically.

"I tried." The Dweeb moved his hand up and down, indicating him pulling on something. "You pull the fuckin' trunk on it, and the light's supposed to go on. It didn't go on, I mean - I don't..." He pushed himself back up into a sitting position and clutched his hands together.

Sporto maintained his gentle tone, "What was the gun for, Brian?"

"Just forget it." Brian said, trying to evade the question.

"You brought it up, man." Andrew retorted.

The Brain rested his elbows against his knees and mumbled against his fingers, "I can't have an 'F' ... I can't have it ... and I know my parents can't have it." He sniffled a little before continuing, "Even if I ace the rest of the semester, I'm still only a 'B'. Everything's ruined for me."

"Oh, Brian..." Claire sighed with compassion laced around her voice.

"What?" Brian snapped as he backhanded the stool that was beside him and my sister, almost knocking it over. "I was considering my options, you know?"

Roxy became as stiff as a statue, not moving a muscle or making a sound.

"You were _what?_ " I asked, not being able to tell if I was more stunned or more angry.

"No!" Claire spoke up immediately after. "Killing yourself is _not_ an option."

"Well, I didn't do it, did I?" Brian bellowed, lifting his head so he could scowl at her. "No, I don't think so."

Allison stared at him cautiously, "It was a handgun?"

The Nerd let out a deep breath and murmured, "No, it was a flare gun. It went off in my locker."

"Really?" Andrew started to laugh at an incredibly high-pitched volume, causing me to stare at him like he had just lost his sanity. How in the hell was planning to commit suicide _funny?_

I started to think back to earlier, when the seven of us were running like our lives depended on it to avoid getting caught by Mr. _Vermin_ in the halls. There was the one locker that I had caught a glimpse of, but I didn't really put much thought into it then. It was completely charred with the top of the door practically melted. That must've been the Geek's locker ... and if a flare gun did _that_ to it, then I could only imagine what it could do to a person.

"It's not funny." Brian said, resting his hand against his forehead and snapping me out of my thoughts.

Sporto coughed and pressed his lips together in an attempt to suppress anymore laughter, but it didn't take long before cracking another full-toothed grin and started to chuckle. At the same time, Allison bit down on her bottom lip to prevent herself from laughing along and Roxy's mouth dropped open a little, making it clear that she was on the same boat as me. Neither of us found this situation _humorous._ It got to the point where the Handicapped was no longer bothering to wipe away her tears as they dripped down her cheeks.

With one last sniffle, Brian pursed his lips - only to break out into a smile and begin snickering along, "Yes, it is ... fuckin' elephant was destroyed."

Roxy narrowed her watery eyes in his direction, suddenly looking pissed. "What in the hell were you thinking?" she blustered, causing me to stare at her with huge eyes while the other detainees stopped chuckling and snapped their attention over to her. All of them - even Bender - looked just as caught off guard as I was. Never in my entire life had I _ever_ heard my sister talk in a tone like _that._ It was furious to the point where I was positive that a new word had to be invented to describe just how angry she was.

"What?" Brian said, blinking naively.

"You were _actually_ considering to take your own life over some dumb grade?" Roxy asked, pausing for a moment before she scoffed and shook her head. "Everyone gets at least _one_ 'F' in their life, Brian! It doesn't mean that it's the end of the world! It was just one lousy elephant lamp! It's not like Edison succeeded at inventing the light bulb on his first try! Or how about when hundreds of people assumed that the world was flat, huh? It took Columbus's journey to make them all realize that it wasn't! But you don't hear of any of them killing themselves over how they didn't know that at first!"

I took down a quiet gulp to help clear a lump from my throat, continuing to watch with shock decorating my face.

Brian was clearly too stunned to say anything back, opening and closing his mouth a few times.

Tears continued to pour out of the Handicapped's bright gray eyes as she sniffled. "Look at me! I am _blind!_ " she bellowed, still seething as she started to tick items off on her fingers, "I can't see myself, I can't see my house, I can't see the school, and I can't even see my own _brother!_ " Her voice cracked a little at her final word and I cringed, feeling my throat beginning to grow sore from me holding back the tears that hadn't even managed to weld up in my eyes.

"But you don't see _me_ trying to tie a noose around my neck or trying to swallow a handful of pills, now do you? I'm still living my life and pushing through its obstacles, despite how I can't see _shit!_ " Roxy barked, beating a violent shade of red by this point. "You have _no reason_ to kill yourself, Brian!"

"Look, I'm sorry!" Brian exclaimed defensively. "But I couldn't control how you were born blind!"

The Handicapped exploded, balling her hands into fists at her sides as she yelled, "WHO SAYS I WAS _BORN_ BLIND?"

Everyone froze. To me, it felt like the whole earth had stopped spinning. I clenched my eyes shut and sucked in a deep breath, trying to remain calm as the horrible flashbacks began to topple over each other inside of my head. Then, as I slowly deflated my chest and cracked my eyes back open, I saw all of the other detainees - including Allison and Bender - gaping at my sister like they had just witnessed her commit murder.

The Nerd eventually broke the unsettling silence, stammering, "W-what?"

I narrowed my eyes and replied quietly, "She wasn't _born_ blind." The pain in my throat grew stronger and I was starting to feel sick to my stomach; but I still refused to cry.

A heavy frown fell across Roxy's face, as if she hadn't been pissed just seconds before. She hastily wiped the tears away from her face with her sleeves, but they were only replaced by more tears that wouldn't stop leaking out from her eyes. Then, while sniffling, she shifted out of her position, curled both of her legs up into her stomach, and wrapped her arms around her shins.

"H-how..." Brian cleared his throat, still stuttering, "...h-how did this happen to you, Roxy? Were - were you, you know, sick? Glaucoma, possibly?"

The Handicapped rested her chin on her knees and whispered, "I wish..."

"Roxy.." Andrew said with his voice drenched in a mixture of concern and sympathy, "...what happened to you?"

There was a small pause before Roxy answered through her sniffles. "I..." She spoke slowly, "I had this boyfriend back in Russia..."

"Rox..." I spoke up, suddenly sounding sad. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked down at my lap to prevent the other detention goers from seeing my frown, "Don't..."

"His name was Damien..." Roxy continued like I hadn't said anything. "He..."

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed on it, trailing off.

The compassion in the Jock's voice increased, "What did he do to you, Roxy?"

Roxy hesitated, allowing a few more tears to fall down her face before she said, "He hurt me..."

* * *

 **A/N:** **A/N: Another chapter completed! :)**

 **This cliffhanger can only mean one thing: Comrade and Roxy's backstory is coming up next! :D :D**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please keep in mind that it's my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter. I absolutely love feedback and I appreciate it all very much, so don't be shy to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. :)**

 **Another Fun Fact: You can see Brian's locker in the beginning of the movie and in the background during the hallway chase scene when the characters run into the gate.**

 **Also : Please keep in mind that chapters will take more time to complete, considering I'm currently back in school. Nonetheless, I'm _not_ quitting this story, so don't worry about that. Updates will just take a little longer due to homework, studying, and projects. I thank you all for understanding. :)**

 **I also have my poll on "Who Are Your Two Top Favorite Characters in The Breakfast Club?" still going. In case any of you want to check that out and cast your votes, it's on my page.**

 **Again, I hope you all had fun reading this chapter! :) It was a lot of fun to write! :)**

 **Well, all of my fantastic viewers, I believe we've reached the end of this chapter.**

 **Please review! I appreciate all of your feedback! :D :D**

 **Until next time, happy reading and writing to you all! :) :)**

 **God bless! :D**

 **Crystalteen, out!**

 **THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!**


	14. Just One Night Out

**A/N: Hey, everybody! :D**

 **The time has finally arrived for you all to read _Part One_ of Comrade and Roxy's backstory. I hope you are all as excited as I am, because I've had their whole backstory planned out for a couple of months now and I believe that you all have waited long enough to have your questions answered.**

 **Nevertheless, before we begin, I would like to thank Applejax XD, madwamoose, AvidMovieFan16, and Guest for reviewing the previous chapter. It means so much to me, so thank you guys very much for sharing such amazing words with me. I would also like to thank everyone who has added this story to their favorites and follows, as well as the ones who enjoy reading it. You are all amazing. :) :)**

 **Please review!** **It's still my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter, so don't hold back on sharing your thoughts. I appreciate all of your feedback and it means a lot to me. Feel free to post your comments in the reviews or you can PM them to me. Thank you, everyone! :)**

 **This just in, this story now has over 4,330 views! :D :D You are all absolutely amazing and I want to take the time to thank all of you for taking the time to read "The Reality Check & the Handicapped" up to this point. I would also like to thank the ones who have added this story to their favorites and follows, and again to the ones who reviewed. Thank you all so much. Let's keep it up! The story ain't over yet! :) :)**

 **Fun Fact: Originally, within the first month of planning this story, Roxy was supposed to be the Reality Check and Comrade was supposed to be the Handicapped. But, throughout the following two months, I really struggled with connecting them to those labels and found out that everything fell perfectly in place for me when I switched them. I'm _very_ glad that I did. :)**

 **Well, I believe I stated everything that I wanted. The time has come for you all to sit back, relax, and enjoy _Part One_ of the Alexandrov backstory.**

 **Warning** **: This chapter contains descriptions that may be disturbing/triggering to some viewers. These descriptions include: alcohol, drugs, abuse, and sexuality. There is absolutely no smut and please note that I'm not promoting any of these actions.**

 **Happy reading, everyone. Please don't hold back on reviewing!**

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Comrade's POV

Roxy's words echoed in my head repeatedly, " _He hurt me ... he hurt me ... he hurt me..._ "

Everyone became as still as statues, gawking at the Handicapped like they had just witnessed her trying to commit arson. I don't think that there was ever a time in my life in which I found complete silence so uncomfortable and unnerving. My stomach was in a ridiculous knot, making me feel like I was seconds away from leaning over the railing and vomiting. The swarm of flashbacks were attacking my brain, causing my blood to feel very cold and my heart to feel more and more numb with every pump it made. I've never felt so nauseous before, using almost all of my willpower to hold back the tears as the pain in my throat continued to escalate.

Roxy buried her face in her skirt for a moment before she lifted her head back up and positioned her chin on top of her knees again. By this point, her eyes were completely red-rimmed and overflowing with tears. She looked completely helpless - and believe me, there was _nothing_ that hurt me more than seeing my sister like that. She wasn't even trying to hold back her sniffles or wipe away her tears as they poured like waterfalls down her cheeks. I swear, getting stabbed with a butcher knife wouldn't hurt me as much as seeing Roxy in this position.

The two of us had been through hell all of our lives. We'd been trapped in an abusive home life, our old man turned out to be a violent alcoholic who didn't want anything to do with us, our mother ended up getting murdered shortly before our thirteenth birthday, and I became a victim of depression. But, believe it or not, Damien went _beyond_ all of that. _He_ was the one who changed mine and Roxy's lives forever - the one who made all of our situations back in Russia even _worse._ In fact, ever since the incident that _he_ caused, I had never heard his name come out of the Handicapped's mouth. That is, until this Saturday detention.

Allison turned her head to look at me with concern thickly coating her face, but I quickly dropped my attention down to my lap to avoid making eye contact. By now, I could feel the tears beginning to prickle up in the corners of my eyes and I had to bite down on my bottom lip to prevent it from trembling.

Andrew cleared his throat before shattering the silence. "Roxanne..." He almost looked terrified, but spoke in a compassionate and concerned tone as he slowly dragged his butt against the floor and straightened himself against the railing, "...did he hit you?"

There was a moment of hesitation before my sister opened her mouth; but when no words came out, she pressed her lips together and slowly nodded her head. In less than a second, John's face morphed into a dangerous scowl, giving it away that he wasn't pleased with the thought of someone - especially another guy - mistreating Roxy. At the same time, Claire stiffened against the pillar like somebody had just pulled a gun on her and I witnessed Allison's jaw drop from the corner of my eye.

She turned to look at me again, clearly stunned; but this time, I didn't look away. I could already see a new batch of tears beginning to weld up in the corners of the Basket Case's eyes as she slowly reeled her jaw back in. Judging by the glint that was in her eyes, I could tell that she was in desperate need of an answer as to why I didn't tell her about Roxy having an abusive ex. In return, I straightened my slightly quivering lips and gave her a look that was half nonchalant and half apologetic. At that moment, my throat had become so sore to the point where I could've sworn that I had created a whole new level of strep.

"Oh, God ... Roxy..." Brian said with his voice drenched in sympathy and eyes swarming with a mixture of shock and sorrow.

The Handicapped's lips twitched, forming a large and heartbreaking frown as a couple of more tears escaped from her eyes. She wiped her rosy cheeks with her wrists before she wrapped her arms around her legs again and looked down at her violet chuck taylors, sniffling quietly.

Brian's eyes already looked like they were beginning to grow moist again as he exchanged pitiful glances with the Jock. At the same time, Bender's glare started to waver and he watched my sister as she began to fiddle around with one of her phony sapphire earrings in a lousy attempt to distract herself. Claire, on the other hand, was no longer looking at Roxanne or anyone. She was staring off in the opposite direction, almost looking zoned out with her eyes containing what I could only assume was guilt. And at that moment, I couldn't help but wonder if she was starting to regret all of the snobby remarks and jealous glares that she'd thrown at Roxy throughout all of the hours we'd spent in detention.

"It all happened so fast..." Roxy said as she nervously rubbed her heels against the carpet. "I mean ... it was just _one night_ ... that's all it was - all it was supposed to be. Just _one night_ out."

I quickly wiped a majority of the water out of my eyes and lifted my head. "Roxanne, _stop._ " I sneered, unable to figure out if the tone I was using sounded more stern or more pleading, "We both agreed that we would _never_ speak about him again."

My sister stared hopelessly in my direction, her bright gray orbs still glittery with tears. "Comrade, it's been almost _seven months._ " She slowly shook her head, continuing with a couple of sniffles interrupting her words every few seconds. "I've been trying to ignore it for so long and I know that you've been trying to do the same. But no matter what we do, it's not going to change the fact that _it happened._ "

I couldn't help but scoff, pointing at myself as I leaned a little forward. "You think that I don't know that?" I asked, now realizing that I was beginning to sound much more strict. I wasn't raising my voice, but I was still making sure that I was getting my point across, "What happened with Damien back in Russia is between _you_ and _me._ It doesn't consult anybody else." I almost gagged at the god-awful taste that filled my mouth at my own mention of the Handicapped's ex-boyfriend, but managed to subdue it.

"But, Comrade-"

A slight glare formed on my face as I interrupted her, "I said _n_ _o,_ Roxy. We _can't_ talk about it, especially here in this hell hole of all places." After pretending to study the hole in my shoe for a few seconds, I took a quick glance around the circle, skipping over Allison and not bothering to contain my bitterness, "I don't trust these guys with a story _that_ personal."

The Rebel sneered and rolled his eyes, peeking up at the ceiling as he mumbled a jumble of indecent words under his breath. At the same time, the Diva, the Athlete, and the Nerd stared at me in utter disbelief; but I couldn't bring myself to look at any of them - _especially_ the Recluse. I didn't need to see her to know that she was pouting, trying to figure out whether or not I was including her in my final sentence. She, aside from my sister, was the only one in this detention who I _did_ trust ... but what Damien did was too damn difficult to even think about.

"Well, _I do._ " Roxy retorted, still shedding tears. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and raised her eyebrows in dead seriousness. "Comrade ... Andrew told us that he landed himself in here today because he was pressured by his own father to beat up an innocent kid. And Brian confessed that he was planning to commit suicide all because of some faulty trunk on an elephant lamp." There was a pause, in which the Handicapped tried to clean away some of the wetness from her cheeks before she went on, "If they were able to bring themselves to share their stories, then I'm sure that I can share my half of ours."

In less than a second, my scowl faded and was replaced by an insanely rare frown. "Roxy, please..." My voice became much more sensitive and isolated, making a piece of me think back to what I did in order to end up in detention today, "...I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I know..." My sister, after another tiny pause, flashed a hint of a sad grin; but it immediately vanished when she began to speak through more sniffles. "I'm sorry, Comrade, but it _hurts._ Don't you understand that? It _hurts._ I've been keeping what happened between me and Damien trapped inside for so long now. I can't hold it in anymore, okay? I _need_ to talk about it."

I caught my bottom lip between my teeth again, trying to stop it from madly quivering like a worm on a hook. This time, I bit down to the point where I was surprised that I wasn't drawing any blood. Then, as I hung my head to prevent the other detainees from seeing the few dozens of tears that were beginning to crawl out onto my lashes, I didn't think twice before setting my hair free from the ponytail. A large majority of my brunette strands instantly draped over my shoulders and my bangs chopped down across my face, helping to hide that I was on the verge of sobbing.

At that moment, I didn't know which hurt me more: the dark memories that revolved around Damien, or the possibility that _I_ was the one who caused Roxy so much pain. Ever since we packed up and moved to Chicago, I wanted nothing more than to see her happy - to help her move on from what happened almost seven months ago. But ... if she was serious about wanting to share her part of our story with total strangers ... then that could only mean that _I'd_ been forcing her to keep it in for so long. It was _my_ fault that she was so upset right now. And all because _I_ wanted to ignore it like it never happened, despite how a large section of my brain was _always_ thinking about it. If only I had just let her talk about it in the past ... how could I have been so stupid?

" _God, you are such an idiot!_ " I mentally screamed, and I could've sworn that I heard the cold slur of my old man's voice yelling the same exact thing at the same time.

"Comrade?" Claire spoke up, sounding just as worried as she looked. "Are you okay?"

I scowled a little and started to absently twirl a loose strand from one of the holes in my jeans around my middle and index fingers. "I'm _fine._ " I sneered, but my lack of eye contact and stuffy nose didn't help me seem so convincing.

"No, you're not." Sporto denied almost instantly. He stared directly at me with bold eyes, but spoke in the same tone that he had used on Allison when asking about her parents earlier, "There's something else, isn't there? About Damien?" When I didn't answer, Andrew continued with his concern thickening, "What happened?"

My eyes darkened, becoming wetter as I grinded my teeth. "Shut up, _Sporto..._ " I snarled, enhancing the impatience in my voice when addressing the Jock, "...just shut up and back off. Leave me alone."

Andrew continued to stare at me, the look on his face perfectly matching the one that he'd been wearing back when Klepto told him to go away by the bookcases. Then, after a moment, he flicked his attention back over to my sister and said, "It must've been real bad, huh?"

The Handicapped looked down at her lap, her frown broadening as she began to nervously fiddle around with her fingernails. "It was just one night..." she said softly, "...I - I thought I knew ... I thought I knew who he was ... I never imagined in my wildest dreams that he would end up hurting me."

Brian pressed his lips tightly together at the sound of her broken tone and a fresh teardrop raced down his cheek. He dabbed his eyes with the hem of his sleeve, clearly trying to keep himself composed as he and the other detainees listened.

"He had been my best friend since childhood ... Damien, I mean." Roxy cleared her throat and drew in an uneasy breath before she went on. "Til' this day, I still remember back when we'd used to ride our bikes through our neighborhood and take trips to the beach with his parents for playdates every few weeks. We would splash around in the water, chase hermit crabs, and collect shells together..." A couple of humorless snickers leaked into what she said next, "I always searched for the ones with specks and he loved searching for the ones with stripes ... whoever had the most shells by the end of the scavenger hunt won ... I remember 'cause I let him win most of the time."

I closed my eyes and sniffled quietly, trying to distract myself with the hazy memories of the blissful white sand, bright blue waves, and even some annoying-ass seagulls that wouldn't stop squawking. But it was no use. My mind kept going back to the - once innocent - boy with dark hair and matching eyes, reminding me that if he hadn't done what he did, Roxanne would still have her sight and we wouldn't have had to alter our whole lives.

"We were inseparable." Roxy's bottom lip trembled, but she gained as much control over it as she could and continued. "Seriously, not a day could go by without us talking on the phone or getting together to do something. Even when he asked me out shortly after his sixteenth birthday, it was like he still had that bright, humorous, happy-go-lucky personality from when we were little kids. I used to think that his goofy smile and warm laughter would never change..." Roxy then scoffed at herself and faintly shook her head, "...God, I don't think that I've ever been so wrong about something before in my _entire_ life."

I continued to stare miserably at the hole in my converse and took down a gulp to help remove an aching lump from the middle of my throat. By this point, the Brain and the Kook were trying their hardest not to start bawling again and the Jock, the Beauty Queen, and the Delinquent had their faces masked in concern.

Roxy took a moment to try wiping away some of the tears from her cheeks with Bender's scarf, which was still tied around her right wrist. "We dated for two years and everything was great," she said, eventually giving up on trying to clean her face, "Damien appeared to be the greatest boyfriend that any girl could ever ask for. He surprised me with romantic picnics in my mom's garden, pushed me on the swing set at our childhood playground, accompanied me to all of the school events ... he adored me more than anybody else in the whole world ... or so I thought."

With a shaky sigh, the Handicapped looked down at her knees and wiped a tear away from the tip of her nose. "About a month after me and Comrade turned seventeen, something about Damien felt kind of ... you know, different." She attempted to clear her stuffy nostrils, her voice growing softer. "He, uh ... he started to call a lot less and he wasn't asking me to hang out as much as he used to. Unfortunately, I made the dumb decision to brush the weird feeling off ... I just figured, you know, that he was busy helping his parents with something or he was working on a project for school. I - I didn't really put much thought into it..."

Sporto was absently picking at his bottom lip, starting to look like he was seconds away from shedding tears just by listening to how upset my sister sounded. We hadn't even reached the serious and horrifying part of the story yet.

"But then..." Roxy's voice cracked slightly, and the amount of water in her silver eyes increased, "... _that night_ came ... after two weeks of not hearing anything from him, Damien called me and at first, I was worried that he was going to tell me that something awful happened ... you know, like a death in the family or something like that. But he sounded just as happy and carefree as he always did ... there didn't seem to be anything wrong, so I convinced myself that it really _was_ something minor and not worth mentioning."

Roxy pursed her lips for a moment, swallowing thickly before going on. "He told me that it was great to hear my voice again and, uh ... after exchanging a few conversations, he brought up that the reason he called in the first place was because he was wondering if I wanted to go with him to a party later that night for one of his other friends ... and - and since I hadn't seen or heard from him in two whole weeks, I immediately said that I'd love to go. I figured, you know, that it'd be a great way for the two of us to see each other again ... just _one night_ out together."

My whole body became as stiff as a board as I clenched my eyes shut. I knew exactly which part of the story was coming next and I dreaded it.

The Handicapped tried to clear her nose again, "So, I got myself all fixed up ... I was so excited for this birthday bash ... I curled my hair, did my makeup, and put on this cute dress of mine. It was, um ... a knee-length, capped-sleeve sundress that was the color of cotton candy. So beautiful and it fit me perfectly." A small spark of fascination flickered across Bender's face at the mental picture of Roxy's appearance, but he immediately became concerned again as she continued to talk. "But, I ... I knew that Comrade wouldn't approve of me going out to a late-night party with my boyfriend, so I ... um..." Roxy hesitated, nervously dragging her eyes across the floor, "...I - I had Damien drive over and I snuck out when Comrade was in the shower."

With no hesitation, I shot my head up and stared at my sister incredulously, as if she had just attempted walking through a wall. Did she seriously just lie about what happened between me and her before the party?

Silence invaded the circle for a moment before Brian spoke up, "Whose birthday was it?" Whether he was trying to lessen the tension or he really was curious about that irrelevant part of the story, I had no clue.

"Jake Petrov's." Roxy answered, still wearing that heart-wrenching frown. "He was the captain of the football team, a shoo-in for prom king, and Damien's best guy friend. The two of them had been in each other's lives ever since they were in diapers ... but on the way to Jake's house, Damien didn't say a word to me. He had kissed me on the cheek when I got in the car and helped me get strapped in, but other than that ... nothing."

She took down yet another gulp, continuing afterwards. "A-at first, I didn't really mind ... I - I just figured that he was caught up in thinking about the party, considering he was smiling as he drove. But then, after about ten minutes of pure silence, I decided to start a conversation by telling him that I was so excited for the party. In return, he chuckled and winked at me as he said that he was excited, too ... after that, everything became silent again and we arrived at Jake's house after another ... I don't know, maybe fifteen or so minutes..." A few more tears escaped from Roxy's eyes, "...but when Damien ... when - when he escorted me up to the front door and someone let us in ... I was shocked at what I saw, I really was..."

"What did you see?" Claire asked with her voice drenched in sympathy and eyes still somehow dry. "What was happening, Roxy?"

"The party..." My sister sniffled and folded her hands on top of her knees, speaking quietly and uneasily, "...it was out of control ... the house was an absolute wreck. Through the smoke that was coming from some cheap fog machine that some idiot must've brought with them, I could see toilet paper thrown across the floor and hanging from all of the lights. There were hundreds of martini and beer bottles scattered across the coffee table, and plastic cups filled to the rim with vodka were sitting on the counter in the kitchen." Roxy shook her head in disapproval and sighed, "All around me, people from mine and Comrade's old school were chewing tobacco, smoking cigars, dancing provocatively, and drinking ... it was pretty obvious that at least eighty-five percent of them were drunk."

I noticed that Andrew was starting to look a little uncomfortable, and I knew exactly why. That Stubby kid from the wrestling team threw parties that were just as wild and dangerous as the one that Roxy was describing - and Sporto was beginning to realize that he must've triggered some unpleasant memories back when he asked her at the beginning of the detention if she wanted to go with him tonight.

The Handicapped rubbed her red-rimmed eyes with the Hooligan's scarf before continuing, "I immediately turned to Damien and asked him what in the world was going on, and he explained to me that Jake's parents were unable to celebrate his birthday with him because they were out of town on a business trip ... so, the party was thrown together by a couple of other members from the football team." She started to uncomfortably bounce one of her legs. "I - I told Damien that I didn't know how I felt about hanging out there anymore, but he told me not to be a Debbie Downer and to give the party a chance. After that, he slipped off his leather jacket, handed it to me, and walked off to go hang out with Jake and a couple of other friends."

Brian, Claire, and Allison stared at her in bewilderment. Bender, on the other hand, looked like he was seconds away from ripping somebody's head off as he sneered, "He just _left you_ in the middle of the party like that?"

"Yeah..." Roxy replied, nodding softly, "...I was going to put his jacket on the coat rack for him, but after noticing that a few boys were in the middle of using it to support their beer bongs, I decided to just put it on. Then, one of the guys stopped drinking, smirked at me, and held out his nozzle as he asked if I wanted to join them. He even addressed me as _sweetheart_... but instead of saying anything back, I looked down at the floor and turned away. A group of girls in sleazy cut-off jeans and halter tops pointed and obnoxiously giggled as I walked past them ... but I shrugged them off the best I could and took a seat on the couch."

My sister rested her forehead against her knee, still drumming her other foot against the floor. "It didn't take long before some random guy who smelled like liquor and stale corn chips sat down beside me and started flirting with me ... but when I told him that I wasn't interested, he called me a useless skank and lit a cigarette as he walked off. Within minutes, he and some other girl covered in hickeys were racing up the stairs with a group of recent dropouts clinking bottles and cheering for them. Shortly after that, I had to tell _another_ perverted asshole that I wasn't 'looking for a good time' and that I didn't want to buy any painkillers from him."

Her frown broadened even more and she grimaced, "I sat there for an hour straight, trying to ignore how everyone around me was starting to take turns sticking their tongues down each other's throats; but when this drunk couple toppled over and almost landed in my lap, I had enough and shot up, hurrying into the kitchen to find Damien..." The color started to fade from Roxy's face and a few more tears escaped from her eyes, "...and there he was, leaning against the wall and - and laughing as he watched a few guys wrestle over the remaining food in the fridge with a half-empty bottle of, um ... wine in his hand. Jake was making out with his girlfriend in the corner, and some other girl was vomiting in a nearby trashcan."

Claire's face twisted in disgust as she muttered, "Ew, gross."

One of the corners of Brian's lips twitched a little, giving it away that he was thinking the same thing as her.

"Was he drunk?" Allison asked, evidently referring to Damien with caution dripping from her voice.

Roxy lifted her head back up and tried once again to clear her stuffy nose. "N-no ... he wasn't drunk, but he _was_ a little buzzed ... i-it was my first time seeing him with alcohol ... but at that moment, despite how much it shocked me ... I didn't really care ... I-I just wanted to go _h-home._ " Her voice cracked a little at her final word and she started to fiddle around with her nails, scratching off some of the dark blue/almost black polish. "When I approached him, the first thing that Damien did was smirk and ask me how I was liking the party. I immediately told him that I wanted him to take me home ... but he just chuckled like I had told a joke and said that I didn't mean that."

I clenched my teeth in distress, looking down at my knees as my vision began to flicker back and forth from blurry to clear.

"I _did_ mean it..." Roxy went on, sniffling between words. By this point, her eyes perfectly resembled a homeless puppy's. "...And I told him that ... I - I told him that I didn't want to spend another second there a-and to _please_ take me home ... it took a minute, but his smile eventually wavered ... and - and I remember him saying, 'What are you talking about, babe? The party is just getting started.' ... I kept begging him to take me home ... b-but then..."

A new series of tears started to rain down the Handicapped's face and she sucked in a sharp breath. "...Damien w-wrapped his other arm around my waist ... p-p-pulled me close to his chest ... r-ran his hand d-down to the top of my butt ... and whispered c-close to my face ... 'Come on, Rox ... loosen up ... h-how about I take you upstairs and - and help you get a little more comfortable? J-Jake's got a spare bedroom that we could put to good use.'"

In less than a second, the color rushed out of the Recluse's face and the Thug's eyes widened to the point where they looked like they were about to explode out of his skull. Although, I couldn't tell if he was shocked or jealous. At the same time, the Redhead's jaw practically dropped all the way down to the floor and her eyes were finally starting to become moist. The Jock stiffened against the steel bars of the railing and lastly, the Dweeb looked like he had just been slammed in the gut with a rock.

"Oh my God..." Sporto murmured, sounding shocked to the point where it was like the air had been knocked out of him.

Just wait until the five of them heard what happened next.

"I swear ... til' this day, I - I can still smell the alcohol that was on his breath..." Roxy whispered, almost choking on her words. "...I was _very_ uncomfortable ... a-and I guess what made the situation even _more_ unnerving was the fact that ... that Damien was fully aware of what he was saying to me..." She bit down on her bottom lip and chewed on it for a moment before she continued, "...That was the first time h-he _ever_ tried to convince me to sleep with him ... and I ... I broke through my shock and - and told him that I didn't want to ... that I wanted n-nothing more than to leave that party and go home ... 'Don't be like that, babe ... I promise you, it'll be worth it ... I - I can make this the b-best night of your life.' ..."

She shook her head, shedding even more tears. "I told him no ... I'm not that kind of girl ... I just - just wanted to get out of there ... eventually, Jake stopped trading saliva with his girlfriend and drinking his booze long enough to notice me trying to get Damien to understand how much I wanted to go home. Luckily, he wasn't wasted ... and I remember him saying something like, 'Hey, dude, come on. Lay off 'er ... if she wants to go home, then take her home. Don't force her to stay if she doesn't want to.'"

Claire softly nodded, as if Jake was there to witness her agreeing with him.

"Jake was a good guy." Roxy said quietly, as if that was in need of clarification. "He even offered to be the one to drive me home so Damien could stay and continue enjoying the party. Maybe play some Beer Pong or something."

Brian nervously twirled his thumbs around, keeping his teary eyes locked on my sister. "H-how did, uh - how did Damien react to that?" he asked, stuttering slightly.

The Handicapped wrapped her arms around her shins again and rubbed her cheek against one of her knees, evidently pretending to scratch at an itch. "He immediately turned to Jake and told him no ... 'that won't be necessary' ... then, he chugged down the rest of his wine and made it perfectly clear that he wasn't going to allow his best friend to ditch his own birthday party. After that, he ... h-he instructed me to hurry out to the car so he could drop me off back at my house and get back to the party before everyone started to leave."

She wiped her congested nose with the back of her hand, "W-when Damien walked out the door, Jake grabbed me by my arm and asked i-if ... you know, if I wanted him to come along ... b-but I told him that I would be fine and to - to enjoy the rest of his party ... God, I was such _an idiot_ to say no." My sister then curled her hand into a fist and held it up, speaking through slightly jittery teeth, "Dammit, I should've noticed the signs, _I should've._ "

A few tears leaked off Allison's eyelashes and trickled down her cheeks. She took a peek at me from the corner of her eye, but when I refused to glance back, she sighed to herself and flicked her attention back over to Roxy.

"What signs, Roxy?" Claire asked, sounding both naive and concerned.

I immediately scoffed, ignoring my falling tears as I sneered, "I _really_ hope that's a rhetorical question, Gingersnap." Then, I peeked up just enough to see the Princess and added, "And here I was _actually_ starting to believe that there was at least half of a brain in that spoiled head of yours."

Despite the tears that were brewing her eyes, Claire shot one of her typical snooty scowls in my direction. Though, before she could open her mouth to say anything back, Roxy spoke up again in a slightly louder voice, "I walked out of the house." She was eager to prevent another argument from breaking out, regaining the group's attention in less than a second.

"I - I was relieved..." the Handicapped continued after a small pause, "...thinking to myself that - that I was _finally_ escaping that night and going home ... but when I ... w-when I got in the car w-with Damien ... the whole atmosphere changed..." She swallowed hard, unable to stop her lips from quivering. "H-he looked ... _angry_ ... a-and the first thing that came to my mind was that ... h-he was mad at me for wanting to go home. I immediately felt guilty a-and, you know, apologized to him for not wanting to stick around for - for the rest of the party ... b-but he didn't say _anything_ back. He didn't even _look_ at me ... he just drove."

I gulped and crossed my arms over my gurgling stomach, having no choice but to cower there in silence and misery as my sister's words painted graphic pictures inside of my brain.

"It was so dark out ... other than the headlights and a couple of lamp posts, i-it was literally pitch-black..." Roxy's face paled a little and a new flood of tears started to flow out of her eyes at what she said next, "A-and suddenly ... after a-about thirteen minutes of riding i-i-in complete silence ... Damien took a sharp turn down a - a road that I didn't recognize. I, uh ... I - I immediately asked him where we were going ... a-and still without looking at me, he said in this - this monotone voice t-that he was taking a shortcut..." She choked back on a sob at her final word and started trembling uncontrollably. "...I wish that I could tell you guys that I told him to pull over s-so I could get out by this point ... but I can't ... _I can't_... I - I only had two options ... stay in the car, o-or walk by myself in the freezing darkness."

Brian and Andrew exchanged glances, the looks on their faces giving it away that they were extremely nervous to find out what happened next. Claire, on the other hand, looked somewhat dumbfounded and her tears were slowly beginning to roll down her cheeks. Bender refused to break his attention away from Roxy, staring with large and strongly concerned eyes. I could've sworn that I even saw a tiny bit of water beginning to fog up in their corners. And lastly, Allison gently placed her hand between my shoulder blades and began to rub my back as soothingly as possible.

"I didn't know what to say back to him ... s-so, I didn't say anything..." Roxy went on, almost whispering. "...And eventually ... t-the street lights began to, uh ... t-they began to lessen and - and the buildings around us started to become old ... rundown a-and on the verge of abandonment. I'd _never_ seen so much litter and graffiti before in my whole life ... in fact, I - I had never seen that part of town before..."

She scratched much harder at her thumbnail, chipping off almost all of the paint in just a couple of scrapes. "The streets were completely vacant ... a-and I was about to ask Damien if he was sure he knew where we were going ... b-but before I could, he pulled into this - this alleyway." My sister's pouting lips started to tremble again, but this time, they were trembling much faster. "H-he stopped the car in front of this - this huge dumpster that was at the very end a-a-and put it in park ... after that, h-he unfastened his seatbelt ... t-turned off the headlights ... a-and started messing around with the radio..."

I welded my eyes shut tighter than ever before and vigorously scrubbed my cheeks with my sleeves to the point where they started to burn. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the tears to stop. It was like they had a mind of their own.

Andrew raised an eyebrow in mild confusion, "The radio?"

Roxy faintly nodded, her chest quivering as she continued, "I - I was so confused ... so _damn stupid_ ... I seriously h-had _no idea_ what he was doing ... and by this point, t-the only source of light we had was this, uh ... y-you know, this nightclub's neon sign that - that filled the car with this rosy shade of pinkish/red that was p-pretty unsettling for the time being..." She paused and took a moment to bite down on her thumbnail, nibbling slightly at the few remaining pieces of polish. "I - I asked Damien what he was doing ... but all he did was continue to fiddle around with t-the, um, knobs on the radio ... a-and after finding a song that he liked, h-he turned it up and - and slowly turned to look at me..."

The Handicapped took down yet another gulp, looking like she was on the verge of convulsing, "I - I slowly started to reach for the buckle of my seatbelt, t-thinking that ... you know, walking home didn't sound so bad anymore ... but j-just as I was about to ask Damien what was going on, he ... h-he literally _dove_ across to the - the other side of the car a-a-and _pinned me down_ against the passenger's seat ... a-and I wanted to scream, but he covered my mouth with his hand a-and told me that..." The tears started to pour down Roxy's face even faster, and her words became much more strained, "...that I b-better keep my d-damn mouth shut ... 'I swear to G-God, Roxanne Alexandrov ... i-if you scream, I - I will _kill you_ before anyone h-has the chance t-to hear you!' ... A-and then, he ... h-he..."

Before another word was able to leave her mouth, my sister clenched her eyes shut, flew her hands up to her face, and started to bawl like a helpless newborn. Up until now, it was like all of her previous tears had been minor leaks from a dam ... and now, that dam was busted.

Keeping her face hidden, Roxy bellowed through her miserable sobs, "H-h-he slipped his other hand between my legs a-and s-started touching m-m-my crotch!"

In less than a second, Andrew released a startled gasp and his watery eyes widened to the point where they looked like they had become too large for his head. At the same time, Brian's jaw dropped in horror and he threw his hand over his mouth, making it obvious that he was trying his hardest to choke down his sobs. Allison had a much similar reaction, except she completely froze and paled to the point where she perfectly resembled a ghost. Her hand tensed up, lying stock-still against my right shoulder blade.

Claire shifted uncomfortably, almost wincing at that god-awful mental picture as a half guilty/half sympathetic frown formed on her face. She had to take a moment to look away, cuffing the side of her face with one of her hands in the hopes of hiding how she was starting to cry like she had when the Nerd called her conceited.

And lastly, a single teardrop managed to leak out of one of Bender's eyes and fall down his face as he took down a heavy gulp. Although, at that moment, I couldn't tell if he was preventing himself from throwing up or trying to clear a lump from his throat. Either way, despite the shock that was decorating his face, the look in his eyes gave it away that learning the truth about Roxy getting molested actually _hurt him._

"I - I immediately started to sob and ... a-and I tried to shove h-him away ... but _I couldn't..._ " Roxy whimpered, trying her hardest to speak clearly through her cries. "I wanted - I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs ... oh, God, I wanted him to _stop_ ... b-but everything that came out was _nothing_ but desperate and - and terrified muffles..."

The Dweeb clenched his eyes shut, causing his tears to spill even faster down his rosy cheeks. He sniffled as quietly as he could manage - which wasn't very quiet at all - and kept his hand over his mouth, evidently having a much more difficult time keeping his sobs contained. At the same, the Athlete hung his head in guilt and stared at his lap, unable to prevent a few tears from escaping from his eyes and dripping down onto his jeans.

The Handicapped's chest trembled as she drew in another unsteady breath, "I mean, I couldn't ... I - I couldn't believe w-what was happening ... I was _petrified_..." Her voice was soaked in pain and there were hundreds of tears flowing down her face, "Damien then started to - to shove his tongue i-into my mouth ... paying n-no mind to my tears o-o-or s-smothered protests ... a-and I kept trying to push him off ... but it was _no use..._ "

By this point, it was _me_ who was shaking. I couldn't stop thinking about what _really_ happened before that party, feeling myself getting bombarded with a variety of dark emotions: pain, anger, disappointment, humiliation, regret ... the list was endless and torture.

"I m-managed to turn my head away long enough t-to scream ... _begging_ and _begging_ for him to stop a-a-and to _please_ l-let me go..." Roxy sniffled. She curled her fingers into a tight fist and held it up, unable to stop it from shaking. "...But Damien ... h-he grabbed me by m-my chin and - and forced me to look at him again ... a-and then, he decked me in - in the jaw ... a-and told me again to keep my damn mouth shut ... after t-that, h-he practically t-tore off my underwear a-a-and pulled h-his shirt off..." She shook her head in regret, clearly being tormented by all of the terrible memories that were going to be scarred on her brain for the rest of her life. "T-then ... after he u-unzipped h-his jeans ... h-he proceeded to - to grope m-my breasts ... pinch m-my thighs ... suck o-on my neck ... and all w-while growing even _a-angrier_ from my sobbing..."

Claire looked down at her lap, causing one of her tears to drip off from the bridge of her nose as she let out a deep and sad sigh. Now, I was _positive_ that she was disappointed in herself for treating the Handicapped so horribly throughout the detention. Bender, on the other hand, was wearing an expression that was similar to the one that he'd been wearing during Sporto's confession. Except, this one was much more upset.

"And every time..." Roxy gulped, still holding up her clenched fist, "...e-every damn time I tried to scream, Damien w-would start whaling on me ... I - I remember feeling blood ... f-flowing down from my nose and - and from the - the corners of my mouth ... a-and every time Damien would hit me ... h-he would yell at me like - like some mindless maniac ... 'you disgusting, worthless slut!'" Roxy held out her other hand, imitating her ex-boyfriend's cruel and heartless tone as she plowed her fist into her palm. It was obvious that she was staging him slamming her with full force in the face.

"'You better stop crying if you know what's good for you, you little bitch! Hell, you should be _grateful!_ '" She punched her wide-open hand again, practically screaming through her earth-shattering cries, "'You brought this on yourself, you hear me? This is all _your_ fault, you useless whore!'" Two more hits struck her palm, causing it to redden. "'Shut your mouth! We're doing this _my_ way!'" _Another_ hit followed, this one much harder than all of the others, "'You're worth _nothing_ without me! You're _nothing_ but a pathetic and unwanted slut! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!'"

Allison flinched, just as Andrew started to eagerly scrub his cheeks and Brian hid his face behind his hands, weeping somewhat quietly.

"You son of a bitch..." the Handicapped whispered, looking completely broken down as she switched back to her own voice. "...Eventually, he brought out a p-pocketknife from his jeans ... and I was ... I - I was terrified, thinking that ... you know, t-that he really _was_ going to - to k-kill me ... but he ended up u-using it to only slice o-o-off m-my dress..." Sniffling, she took a moment to wipe one of her eyes before she curled up into the fetal position again and continued, "A-a-and when you're a victim of r-rape ... there comes a time w-when you give up on - on struggling ... y-you know that there's n-no escape ... a-a-and you just lie there a-and ... and you h-hope and pray to God that t-this ... this horrifying experience will come to _an end..._ "

The Princess wiped away as many of her tears as she could, clearly trying to regain her composure.

"B-but for me..." Roxy tightened her arms around her shins even more, " _..._ the experience ended in blackness ... s-shortly after Damien ... _started_... h-he slammed me o-o-over the head with his - his wine bottle ... s-shattering it a-a-and knocking me out..." She hung her head and rested her forehead against her knees again, "I - I still can't believe it ... he was _my boyfriend_ ... my _b-best friend since childhood_... And. He. _Raped. Me._ "

I winced at the two final words that finished her story, feeling like I had just swallowed a bunch of heavy rocks. It was almost difficult to breathe and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't burn those disturbing pictures out of my brain.

Claire rose her head and looked at my sister again with water still brimming in her eyes. "Oh my God, Roxy..." she said in a quiet and _very_ pitiful voice.

"My God ... I swear, if I knew that asshole..." Wrestle Mania said, slowly shaking his head with a mere scowl plastered on his face. He then drew in a stuffy breath through his nose and looked up at the ceiling, still shedding some tears.

Suddenly, the Criminal started to drag his ass across the floor, stepping over the Diva's expensive looking boots in the process. Then, when he made it over to the opposite side of the circle, he positioned himself like a crouching spy in front of the Handicapped. For a moment, Bender just stared at her and watched almost blankly as hot water continued to trickle down her face; but then, he reached his hand out and carefully used his thumb to stroke away one of the tears. After that, he wiped his finger off on his flannel and slowly wrapped his arms around my sister, as if he was trying to figure out whether or not he was giving a hug correctly.

Roxy tilted her head up a little, preventing her face from being buried in Bender's shoulder as she gently returned the embrace. "John..." she said, and I didn't need to see the Thug's face to know that he was wondering how she knew that it was him, "...you smell just like your scarf."

I could've sworn that I saw Roxy's cheeks grow a tiny bit pink, and there was even a vague grin starting to fiddle around with one of the corners of Bender's lips.

"It was all my fault." I abruptly spoke up, not knowing for sure if I _really_ wanted to share my half of the story or if I just wanted to get the Crook to back the hell away from my sister. The last time I allowed a guy to get close to Roxy, she ended up getting raped and she lost her vision. And I wasn't planning on letting anything horrible like that happen to her _ever_ again.

In less than a second, everyone snapped their attention over to me. Brian dragged his hands away from his face and stared at me with large, confused, toddler-like eyes from over the tips of his fingers. At the same time, John almost reluctantly untangled his arms from around Roxy and turned his head in my direction. He cocked an eyebrow, looking somewhat annoyed that I had ruined his moment with the Handicapped and very curious as to what I meant.

The Burnout refused to look away from me as he scooted back to his original spot against the pillar. At the same time, the Jock's eyebrows knitted together in genuine concern, and the Snob looked just as confused as the Dork.

"What are you talking about, Comrade?" Brian asked, as if he was trying to comfort me.

I swallowed thickly and hesitated for a moment. Then, from the corner of my eye, I decided to take a peek over at the Basket Case. It didn't take long for me to notice just how worried she looked, staring at me with sympathetic eyes that were red-rimmed and a little puffy by this point. I immediately looked away, not wanting to be captivated by her, and took a glance around at the rest of the group as I finally answer.

"It's my fault..." I stated, slowly and nervously rubbing my hands together, "...that Roxy was raped."

Almost immediately, Roxy pointed a finger in the direction of my voice and spoke firmly, " _No._ Don't you _dare_ say that, Comrade."

I sharply narrowed my eyes and snapped my head up, trying to see my sister with my blurred vision. "Oh, come off it, Roxanne! You know it's true!" I hollered, feeling the heat of my tears increase even more as they continued to rain down my face, "I'm your brother! _I'm_ the one who is responsible for you! It's _my_ job to keep you safe and I blew it! You got raped because of _me!_ "

My sister faltered, obviously not expecting me to yell at her like that. "N-no..." she said in a voice that was a lot more sensitive and vulnerable, "...that's not true."

"Yes, it is!" I screamed, paying no attention to how I made Bender flinch slightly. Then, I was interrupted by a couple of quiet sobs; but my accent remained hard and angry as I forced myself to regain at least some of my composure. "I could've saved you! I could've gotten into my car and driven after you! I could've shown up at that party and immediately brought you back home! I could've even..." I trailed off, realizing that I was almost shaking again as my voice lowered into a disappointed growl, "...I could've shown up in that alleyway ... and stopped Damien before he molested you."

Roxy crossed one of her arms over her stomach and slung the other one over her shoulder, making it look like she was giving herself a weak hug. "Comrade," she said after a couple of sniffles, "it really wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was!" I bellowed, evidently growing angrier. " _I_ should've been there that night! _I_ should've been there to protect you from that sick and twisted Ублюдок! Why can't you just accept the fact that it all happened because of me?" ' _Bastard!_ '

The Handicapped enhanced the volume of her voice to be even with mine, "Because _it didn't!_ " Although, it was obvious that she was trying to avoid breaking down and bawling again.

Before I could catch myself even thinking about doing it, my depression grabbed a firm hold on me. "STOP IT, ROXANNE! JUST STOP LYING!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, screwing my eyes shut tighter than ever before as I balled my hands into solid fists, "IT _DID_ HAPPEN BECAUSE OF ME! IT'S ALL MY DAMN FAULT!" Then, not being able to help myself, I flew one of my fists back and plowed it into the wooden top of the railing, eliciting a loud _BANG_ from the impact.

Roxy yelped, not being able to hold back her tears any longer. I immediately winced, surprised that I hadn't busted my knuckles from how hard the punch was, and realized that Andrew had willingly blocked my guitar with his arm. I hadn't noticed it until now, but the punch had missed my guitar's neck by just a couple of inches ... and the Athlete _actually_ protected it for me.

Claire, Bender, and Brian, on the other hand, were staring at me like I had just attempted to hijack Mr. Vernon's car. And lastly, Allison didn't think twice before looping both of her arms around my arm, almost hugging it. Whether she was trying to calm me down or she didn't want me to try throwing anymore punches, I couldn't figure out the direct answer. Either way, I refused to pull my arm away from her.

I breathed hard and slowly unclenched my fists, suddenly feeling like I was drowning in an endless whirlpool of sorrow. "I ... I'm sorry..." I said, not knowing exactly if I was apologizing to Roxy or to the whole group, "I ... I didn't mean to ... I mean, I couldn't ... I couldn't help myself."

Klepto closed her eyes and sighed, "Oh, Comrade..." She planted a small kiss against my upper arm, ironically planting it where I knew a scar was hidden underneath my sleeve.

There was a moment of hesitation, in which I looked back down at my lap before I continued to talk. "You guys think, uh ... I'm proud to be this way?" I asked with genuine sincerity dripping from my accent, " _I know_ that I'm a total bitch ... _I know_ that I'm a major pain in the ass ... but it's not because I _want_ to be. It's because I _have_ to be ... it's all I know." I sort of mumbled my final four words under my breath, using my sleeve to wipe away some of the tears from one of my cheeks. "I mean, how - how else am I supposed to keep Roxy safe? ... I _have_ to lay down the law and make sure that other people know that if they're planning to bitch around with her, then they're going to have to try bitching their way through me first ... because I'm _not_ going to let anything happen to her again."

I cranked my head back up and took a glance around the circle, taking in how all of the other detention goers were still giving me their undivided attention.

"I'm her older brother and it's _my_ job to look out for her..." I said, practically stabbing myself in the chest with my finger, "... _my_ job to keep her safe ... and I screwed up at the _worst time possible._ "

The Queen Bee quickly shook her head. "No, Comrade!" she said in a tone that was half serious and half consoling. "You _did not_ screw up. It's not like you _asked_ Damien to do what he did to Roxy."

"Yeah." Brian agreed almost instantly, nodding like an out of control bobble head. His face was covered in sympathy. "I-I'm sorry to tell you this, Comrade, but, um ... r-rape can happen to anyone when they least expect it. It doesn't matter who they are, where they are, how old they are ... the point is, it - it _can_ and unfortunately _does_ happen more than people think."

"But there's nobody to blame except for the rapist." Andrew incorporated, as if that would somehow comfort me. "You _can't_ blame yourself for Damien's own doings. It _wasn't_ your fault."

Bender rested the back of his head against the pillar and faintly nodded in agreement, but his face appeared to be completely emotionless.

I groaned and ran my free hand through my hair, pushing it out of my face as I exclaimed in a mixture of annoyance and desperation, "Ugh! You guys don't understand!"

"What don't we understand?" Sporto demanded. He took a quick scan around the group, looking legitimately confused. "What's going on? Is there more?"

There was another brief pause, in which I looked down at one of the dozens of holes in my jeans and rubbed my sore knuckles, already envisioning the bruises that were going to form on them. "Oh, there's _a lot_ more." I eventually answered, still massaging my hand as I peeked up and looked across the circle at my sister, "Roxy, why don't we talk about what _really_ happened before you left for that party?"

The Handicapped's eyes expanded and she became as stiff as a statue, drawing the attention of the other detainees in less than a second. "Comrade..." she whispered pleadingly, "...I had that perfectly covered up for you. _Why_ would you bring it back up?"

"Because it'll prove that your whole incident with Damien really was my fault!" I snarled, almost forgetting who I was talking to. "Plus, these guys don't know _my_ half of the story yet."

The look on Brian's face automatically gave it away that he wasn't expecting to hear that Roxy, of all people, had told a lie. "S-something happened before the party?" he asked, sounding genuinely naive as he flicked his attention back and forth from me to the Handicapped.

Bender hunched forward a little so he could be staring directly at me, "What happened?" ... Did I just detect a note of concern in his voice?

Roxy squished her lips together, almost making them vanish from the rest of her face. Then, with her bright gray orbs perfectly resembling a helpless puppy's, she tilted her head down and started to fidget around with her fingernails again. It was obvious that she wasn't going to be the one to admit what _really_ happened, but I didn't care. For some reason - a reason that even _I_ didn't know or understand - _this_ was the first time in God knows how long in which I actually wanted to _talk_ about what was haunting me - _hurting me._

"I wasn't in the shower." My voice was blunt, but there was total honesty shining in my eyes as I talked. "I had _just finished_ taking a shower and I wanted to ask Roxy what she wanted for dinner. But when I walked into the single room that we shared, I saw that she was all dressed up and in the middle of finishing up the final touches of her makeup. For some reason, she hadn't told me about Damien calling her earlier that day..." I gave a slight shrug, "...so, I didn't have the slightest clue as to what she was getting ready for."

Roxy refused to look up and continued to fiddle around with her nails as she quietly spoke up, "I didn't tell you because I knew how much you hated him."

"Of course I hated him, Rox! That's one of the _many_ reasons as to why I didn't want you to go to that party." I sourly remarked. After that, I looked down at my lap to avoid making eye contact with any of the other detention goers and continued. "My first instinct was to ask her what was with the fancy getup, so I did ... and as soon as she finished explaining to me that Damien had called her that afternoon and asked her to tag-along with him to some birthday shindig, I told her that hell would have to freeze over before I _ever_ allowed her to attend some late, after-curfew party."

Sporto furrowed his brow, but I was torn between two reasons as to why: he either expected that kind of response from me, or he actually _agreed_ with what I'd said. After all, he admitted earlier that he couldn't think for himself, which must've been the reason behind why he was so vulnerable when it came to peer pressure. Whether it was dealing with Marijuana or attending a party at Stubby's, Andrew Clarke couldn't make up his own mind to save his life ... and he was subjected to enough recklessness in his life to understand where I was coming from about the danger of late-night parties.

I didn't realize that about the Jock until now ... and to be honest, it made me feel a little dumb.

"So, Roxy tried to get me to change my mind by telling me about how the party was for Jake Petrov." I went on, capturing my bottom lip and grinding it between my teeth in slight nervousness. "But I, of course, refused to budge ... I told her that I didn't give a shit about who it was for and that she was staying home whether she liked it or not ... after all, it isn't against the law for a brother wanting to keep his sister out of danger, right?"

Allison slowly shook her head, despite how she didn't have any experience with siblings whatsoever. At the same time, I just so happened to notice that Brian was starting to look uneasy; and at this moment, that could only mean one thing: he had a sister, too.

"One hell of an argument broke out after that." I sighed, beginning to feel the guilt swarm around and grow stronger inside of my body. "Me and Roxy ... we stood there on opposite sides of the room and just ... just bitched at each other like that was suddenly all we knew how to do. I don't think either of us have ever yelled so much before in our entire lives." I decided to leave out the few details that involved all of the wild hand gestures and other physical motions, such as Roxy kicking over the stool at her makeup table and me battling the urge to throw a punch at the wall.

The Handicapped frowned and didn't even bother trying to clean the tears away from her cheeks, making it obvious that she was ashamed and embarrassed.

I started to rub my knuckles again, almost wincing from how sore they were. "And, uh..." I swallowed thickly, trying to find the quickest way to get all of this out in the open, "...we said a whole bunch of crap. I tried to convince her to stay home with me by offering to set up an all-night movie marathon in the living room for the two of us ... but Roxy, still angry, made it perfectly clear that she wanted nothing more than to get out of the house with Damien for a night." I hesitantly lifted my head back up and scanned the circle, feeling the tears in my eyes starting to increase once again, "Don't get me wrong, I trusted her more than anybody else in the whole world. Heck, I _still_ do ... but I don't trust all of the drug addicts, pedophiles, and other wackos that are out there."

Gingersnap, Wrestle Mania, and Small Fry softly nodded their heads, as if that was their way of saying that they understood and agreed with me.

"But Roxy and I ... w-we wouldn't stop screaming at each other ... we just screamed ... a-and screamed ... and _screamed_..." I was interrupted by a slight sob at my final word, practically feeling the dark memories ripping across my brain as they replayed themselves like an endless slideshow. "She told me that I wasn't the boss of her and that she was in control of her own life ... and in return, I - I told her that ... you know, that she didn't have a freakin' clue _how_ to take control of her own life yet. I called her an immature brat ... and she, pissed as hell, started to lecture me about how I was an uptight ass who didn't know _anything_ about her."

I paused for a moment and narrowed my eyes, realizing my voice was starting to crack a little, "How - how in the hell can she say that? It's not right ... I mean, I know that I can be an asshole ... a-and I know that I - I easily get on peoples nerves ... but I'm still her _brother_... her very own _twin brother_... and I'm pretty damn convinced that I know more about _her_ than I know about _myself._ "

Roxy cringed and choked back on a cry, almost looking as pale as a sheet. Brian, noticing this, reached over and carefully placed his hand on her shoulder, giving it a shy and comforting squeeze. For a moment, I'd almost forgotten that she was there ... and that only made me feel even _more_ guilty.

By this point, I could feel this aching pain in the middle of my throat, coming from none other than a forming lump. I rested the back of my head against the leg of the stool, still feeling the pressure of having everybody's eyes staring me down like I was in possession of the most valuable item in the whole universe. A couple of more tears escaped from my eyes and quickly ran down my cheeks, and I looked up at the ceiling to avoid looking at anyone.

"The fight lasted for what felt like ... like _an eternity._ " I continued, almost making my two final words sound overdramaric as I watched the same fluorescent light flicker from above. "We were practically throwing ourselves a-at each other's throats ... but then ... _he_ pulled up in the driveway and - and honked the horn to announce his arrival ... a-and that's..." My voice cracked again, and I watched with some more tears rolling down my face as the fluorescent light stayed out for a couple of seconds before flicking back on again, "... _that's_ when it happened."

I sniffled, feeling the painful sobs racking against my chest and screaming to be freed. Just then, Claire reached into her bronze leather purse and took a moment to shuffle through its contents before she pulled out two pieces of tissue. At first, I thought that she was going to use them to clean the streaks away from her face; but then, she _actually_ handed one of the tissues over to Roxy and reached the other one over to Brian. The Dork didn't think twice before passing the second tissue over to the Athlete - and that's when the realization hit me: that tissue was for me.

I made brief eye contact with the Redhead, as if that was my way of saying thanks, and I quickly took the tissue from Andrew's offering hand. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I used it to wipe my eyes, the tears returned within seconds.

"What happened, Comrade?" Allison asked as she and the other detainees watched me scrub my face.

I sniffled slightly and straightened my lips for a moment before answering, "I said the most horrible thing that any brother could _ever_ say to his sister." My accent was now soaked in guilt, and I started drawing in deep breaths between words, "I - I - I was _so_ angry ... _I_ _wasn't thinking_ ... a-and when Roxy told me that there was _nothing,_ not even _me_ , that was going stop her from going to that party ... I - I don't know ... something inside of me _snapped._ " I made a gesture with my hand, indicating a door being slammed shut, "As soon as she stormed out the front door ... I - I just stood there ... not even bothering to go after her. And then, I ... I allowed my rage to get the best of me ... and I ... and I screamed at the top of my lungs ... 'This is the thanks I get for trying to look out for you? ... Well, fine! Go out to this damn party and get yourself hurt, abducted, or even killed! I don't give a shit if you even decide to never come back! From here on out, you're on your own, you hear me? _You're all on your own!_ I hate you, Roxanne! _I freaking hate you!_ '"

My sobs started to choke out of me and the tears grew even hotter in my eyes, "A-and I'll never forget ... that look on her face a-as she looked back at me ... s-she looked so _hurt_... _pleading_ me to - to take all of that back ... but _I didn't ..._ a-a-and I just watched ... _glaring_ at her as s-she backed a-away and got into Damien's car." I crumpled my tissue up and clenched it tightly in the palm of my hand, "And later on ... after about two hours s-since she left ... I - I found myself waking up on the couch in - in the living room to the sound of the phone ringing..."

Back then, I remember thinking that it was my pathetic excuse of a father, who _wasn't there that night._ Back then, I assumed that he had gotten himself arrested for the thousandth time and was calling me to gather up all of the money he'd received from gambling and dealing drugs so I could bail his ass out. And til' this day, I still wish that it _had_ _been_ my old man calling that night. At least if it were him, I would've been able to tell him that he was on his own before slamming the phone back down on the receiver. But it _wasn't_ my dad...

"A-and when I answered it..." I drew in a quiet, shaky breath, "...a man quickly explained to me that he was Dr. Kuzmin, a - a physician from the ER ... and the first thought t-that came to my mind was ... you know, t-that he had the wrong number ... but then, h-h-he told me that a body..." I was cut off by a small cry, in which I clenched my watery eyes shut and started to tremble, "...an _u-unconscious_ body was discovered i-in a rundown alleyway ... a-a-and his staff was able to - to identify the body as ... Roxanne Alexandrov..."

Claire flew her hands up to her mouth and gasped in horror, while Allison's jaw dropped down to the floor. At the same time, Brian couldn't resist bawling again and Bender turned his head away, looking off into the opposite direction to prevent the other detainees from seeing the tears starting to fall much faster down his cheeks.

"Oh my God..." Andrew said, as if he had been sucker-punched right in the stomach.

Roxy was still dabbing her eyes with the tissue that the Redhead had given her, looking like she was seconds away from throwing up.

I, on the other hand, was slowly beginning to regain my composure, despite the hundreds of tears that were still raining down my face.

"I - I couldn't believe it ... I - I was in shock ... for a moment, I just stood there in - in denial ... but as soon as Dr. Kuzmin mentioned which ER they were at ... I dropped the phone down to the floor, slipped on my nearest pair of shoes ... and you _better believe_ that I ran faster than _ever_ before out the front door." I attempted for the millionth time to clear my stuffy nose, having no choice but to keep my eyes open to prevent seeing the memories playing inside of my head. "I hopped right in my car, backed the hell out of the driveway, and _drove ..._ I sped through every red light, paid no attention to any stop signs, broke the speed limit ... and after I got to the hospital, I bolted through the parking lot i-in my long sleeved T-shirt and ratty sweatpants like the devil was running after me."

This time, I used my hands to wipe my cheeks. "Then, as soon as I made it into the waiting room of the ER ... I - I started hollering for Dr. Kuzmin. The nurse at the front desk immediately straightened in her chair and told me that I needed to calm down so I wouldn't disturb any of the patients." I narrowed my eyes, remembering the nurse's pale green eyes and the platinum blonde highlights that looked horrible in her auburn hair, "Isn't that stupid? ... I mean, _h_ _ow in the hell_ does she expect me to calm myself down while _my little sister_ is one of the patients there?"

Brian sniffled and cleaned his face as much as he could with his sleeve, refusing to break his attention away from me.

"Anyway," I continued sorrowfully, "when the nurse told me that she was going to have to ask me to leave if I kept yelling, I told her get off her lazy ass and to do her damn job - to get Dr. Kuzmin for me. Then, while she kept trying to contain her temper and reason with me so I would use my 'indoor voice', a few other nurses hurried down one of the halls and retrieved Dr. Kuzmin. Immediately after he was brought back into the waiting room, he walked over to me and demanded what was going on ... and I quickly explained to him that I was Roxanne Alexandrov's brother - the one he'd been speaking with on the phone about ten minutes earlier."

"What did he say after you told him that, Russian Massacre?" Bender asked, using the same tone he had used back when he asked Brian why he assumed that shop would've been an easy class. Although, judging by how he still wasn't looking at anyone, it was obvious that the Delinquent was still pretty upset.

"He..." My lips quivered, transforming into a helpless frown, "...he told me everything ... he went into insanely graphic detail, describing to me that an employee from The Pink Crescent Nightclub had called nine-one-one after spotting a b-bloody hand peeking out from behind the dumpster while they were taking out the trash. T-then, after he explained how it took the paramedics about _forty minutes_ to get where Roxy was ... h-he told me the _worst_ news in my life ... 'M-Mr. Alexandrov'..." I started to impersonate Dr. Kuzmin, which would've been easier if I wasn't crying, "...'I-I'm sorry that I have to tell you this, but ... when Roxanne was brought in, s-she wasn't ... she wasn't w-wearing ... _a-any_ ... clothes. A-and after running a series of tests ... we found DNA belonging to Damien Sudnik i-inside of her ... a-and she's currently in a coma,' ... _a_ _coma_ ... 'from taking a hard b-blow to the head.'"

I balled my hand up and held it up, forming a tight fist again, "My God, I wanted to kill him ... I wanted - I wanted to track him down, that son of a bitch, a-a-and break _every. Single. Bone._ In his body ... but Dr. Kuzmin sooner mentioned that he had already been tracked down by the police and arrested." It took _a lot_ of willpower, but I managed to slowly lower my fist back down to my lap, "Eventually, after Dr. Kuzmin gave me his condolences for the hundredth time, he asked if I wanted to see Roxy ... and I didn't think twice before saying yes."

At that moment, I forced myself to look across the circle at Roxy in an attempt to stop my emotions from spiraling out of control. She was safe, she was alive ... but as of right now, I was being devoured by the past.

"Needless to say, I was extremely worried ... and scared ... and full of _guilt._ " I sniffled, wiping one of my eyes with the neckline of my white T-shirt. "I - I ran my big mouth, said all of that _junk_ about her being on her own from now on ... and there I was just _a few hours_ later ... w-walking through the emergency room with my little sister's life h-h-hanging by a thread."

Klepto sighed sorrowfully, "Comrade..." I held up my hand and signaled her to stop, knowing that I was too far into the story to back out now.

"Dr. Kuzmin led me down a - a series of long, excessively white, sterilized hallways ... a-and eventually stopped by a door ... but before he opened it, he turned and said to me, 'Try talking to her, because there's a slim chance that she can still hear you.' After that, h-he went on explaining that ... t-that there were no way of knowing when or _if_ Roxanne was ever going to come to." I closed my eyes and released a distraught breath, still being haunted by how much that word - if - hurt me. "In return, I asked him if Roxy was going to be okay ... b-because I didn't want to acknowledge the possibility of her dying ... and Dr. Kuzmin explained that aside from having to cope with what happened ... _if_ Roxy was ever going to wake up again ... there was a ninety-eight percent chance t-that she ... she, you know, would no longer be able to _see_ due to how hard she was hit in the head."

"What?!" the Jock squawked, causing the Beauty Queen and the Handicapped to jump.

I slowly nodded my head in regret, "Yeah ... they took a couple of X-rays and it was revealed that Damien had slammed Roxy so hard with his wine bottle to the point where he ended up fracturing something in her brain ... causing her to lose her vision ... so, she was either going to die _with_ her sight or live _without_ it." I reached my hand up and placed my fingertips against the silver crucifix around my neck, praying in my head for God to give me strength, "And when Dr. Kuzmin let me walk into that hospital room by myself ... my stomach felt like i-it dropped down to my knees when I ... when I s-saw Roxanne..."

Now, I was positive that I looked completely vulnerable and broken down, no longer holding any of my tears back and trying to catch my breath as I bawled. "S-s-she was hooked u-up to a heart monitor with ... with s-s-so many damn c-cords and IVs hooked u-up to her! T-there were bandages w-wrapped around her h-head and h-hands ... her face w-was covered in - in bruises ... her n-neck had hickeys on it ... h-her makeup was smeared all over the place ... God, i-i-it was _so hard_ to believe t-that just ... that just a few hours previously, s-she had looked absolutely stunning."

By this point, Brian had his face buried in his arm again. "I ... I need a tissue, dammit!" he cried, at which Claire immediately reached into her fancy bag, shuffled through all of her beauty supplies, pulled out a fresh tissue, and handed it over to him.

At the same time, Allison quickly wrapped one of her arms around my shoulders and pulled herself closer to me. Now, there was no gap of space separating us and she was almost rocking me with her head resting against my arm and dozens of tears rolling down her face. Her eyeliner was even starting to run a little.

"I - I remember falling down to m-my knees at the side of the bed a-and just ... just _sobbing_ _..._ " I went on, desperately sniffling between words. "I remember taking a hold of Roxy's hand, m-making sure that I was being careful with the bandages a-as I ran my thumb across her fingers ... a-a-and I remember how ... h-how _broken_ and _alone_ I felt. I remember talking to her ... a-apologizing for everything that I'd said before she left with Damien and s-saying that I didn't mean any of it ... 'P-please, Rox, don't leave me ... you're a-all I got left ... I need you ... I-I'm so, _s-so_ sorry for yelling a-at you and f-for being such a terrible brother ... _please_ d-d-don't go and leave me h-here all by myself, Roxanne'..."

Roxy flew her hands up to her mouth and stared in the direction of my voice with huge, upset, watery eyes. It was obvious that she hadn't heard me say any of that to her when she was in her coma ... but Dr. Kuzmin _did_ say that the chances of her hearing me would be slim.

Brian blew his nose into his tissue, looking like he was officially beginning to run out of tears.

I slowly started to regain my composure again, wiping my eyes as I continued, "I stayed in that hospital room for weeks, refusing to leave unless it was to go home to take a shower or to go to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite to eat. When the time came for visiting hours to end, I would hide in the bathroom each day to trick the doctors and nurses into believing that I'd already left. I also ditched school every weekday and kept my faith in God, constantly hoping and praying that Roxy would finally wake up ... I swear, it got to the point where the beeping of her heart monitor was music to my ears ... reminding me that there was still a chance."

Bender pretended to scratch his cheek in order to wipe some tears away before he spoke, "How long was she in the coma for?"

"A month." Roxy and I answered simultaneously, but then, it was just me who went on talking like the air had been knocked out of me. "For thirty whole days ... she was bedridden, receiving sponge baths, depending on a countless amount of machines to keep her alive ... and the entire time, _nobody_ knew if she was truly clinging to life or just slowly slipping away into death. But then ... one morning, shortly after I woke up and devoured a pistachio muffin ... I - I heard the greatest sound in the entire universe ... Roxy drawing in a deep breath for the first time. I immediately sprang to the side of her bed, took a hold of her hand, carefully squeezed it, said her name ... a-and I felt absolutely _overjoyed_ when I heard her respond by saying _my_ name..."

I pretended to study the hole in my shoe for the millionth time, swaying my feet from side-to-side with a brand new frown etched across my face. "But ... as soon as she opened her eyes ... it came to my realization that Dr. Kuzmin was right about that ninety-eight percent chance. That beautiful, vibrant shade of green had transformed into a cloudy silver ... a-and til' this day, I can still remember the heartbreaking sight of her going into a panic ... frantically looking all around and causing her heart monitor to pick up the pace as s-she fearfully screamed at the top of her lungs ... crying and begging me to tell her where I was and why the room was so dark. And I just ... I just climbed up onto the bed with her and pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back and trying not to cry as I told her that I was right there ... that I was going to protect her ... and that everything was going to be okay."

I almost reluctantly cranked my head back up and took a glance around the circle, "So, do you guys get it now? If I hadn't lost my temper and said all of that shit, Roxy wouldn't have left with Damien in the first place ... and we wouldn't have had to turn our whole lives around in order to adjust to her blindness." A small, remorseful sigh escaped from my mouth, "It's all my fault."

"No, it's not!" Andrew and Allison objected, shaking their heads.

My eyebrows almost instantly knitted together in confusion. "What?" I said naively.

"Comrade, I was going to go to that party no matter what you said to me." Roxy said, her tone giving it away that she was disappointed in herself. "It wasn't your fault for what Damien did to me ... like Claire and Andy said, you had no control over his doings and it's not like you _asked_ him to do it."

"Yeah." Brian agreed, still making it sound like he was trying to console me. "And it's not like you _meant_ any of that stuff you said to Roxy. I - I mean, uh ... w-we're all - we're all human. We all say stuff that we don't mean when we get mad." He gave a quick and shy gesture around the circle, indicating the other detention goers and showing that he was including them in his statement.

I pursed my lips, not knowing how to respond to that. After all, half of me was still trying to digest how I had just opened up to a bunch of strangers - excluding the Basket Case. Aside from Carl, I never talked about mine and Roxy's past to anyone. Not even my psychologist managed to get me to talk like this ... but there was still plenty of secrets about me that these idiots knew _nothing_ about.

For what felt like a year, nobody made a sound and exchanged glances, as if that was their way of asking someone to be the first one to speak up. Then, just as Allison planted another quick and gentle kiss against my arm, Claire decided to shatter the silence by asking a question that opened up a whole new chapter in mine and Roxy's backstory.

"Where were your parents that night?"

* * *

 **A/N: That's another completed chapter for you all! :D**

 **I would like to apologize for how long it has taken me to update, but as you can all tell by the length of this chapter, Comrade and Roxy's backstory is pretty thick. Also, the reason why I'm splitting their backstory into two separate chapters is because there's still quite a bit to learn about their past and this chapter is over 15,000 words. So, the next chapter will reveal everything else that there is for you all to find out about Comrade and Roxy's backstory! :D**

 **Two Announcements:**

 **1) Please keep in mind that rape is a serious situation that _can_ happen to anyone. Your age, your gender, your race, your religion ... none of that matters. It _can_ happen at the most unexpected times and in the hands of the most unpredictable people. I believe that we are all miracles from God and that _nobody_ deserves to go through such a horrible thing. I highly encourage all of you to report domestic violence, whether you are a victim of it or a bystander. Keep in mind, we are all human beings and we all deserve respect. _No_ means _no._ Thank you.**

 **2) I've been receiving plenty of questions lately as to if I'm going to make a sequel to this story. So, here's the answer: Yes. :) I am going to make a sequel to "The Reality Check & the Handicapped", but please note that it might not be out right away due to me still constructing the plot and juggling a bunch of schoolwork. **

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please keep in mind that it's my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter. I absolutely love feedback and I appreciate it all very much, so don't be shy to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. :)**

 **Another Fun Fact: Originally, John Hughes (Lord, rest his soul) was planning to make sequels to "The Breakfast Club" every ten years. However, he ended up passing away before he could settle the ideas.**

 **Also : Please keep in mind that chapters will take more time to complete, considering I'm currently back in school. Nonetheless, I'm _not_ quitting this story, so don't worry about that. Updates will just take a little longer due to homework, studying, and projects. I thank you all for understanding. :)**

 **I also have my poll on "Who Are Your Two Top Favorite Characters in The Breakfast Club?" still going. In case any of you want to check that out and cast your votes, it's on my page.**

 **Again, I hope you all had fun reading this chapter! :) It was a lot of fun to write! :)**

 **Well, all of my fantastic viewers, I believe we've reached the end of this chapter.**

 **Please review! I appreciate all of your feedback! :D :D**

 **Until next time, happy reading and writing to you all! :) :)**

 **God bless! :D**

 **Crystalteen, out!**

 **THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!**


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